


Back to the golden days

by Chevalier_Barthelemy



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Behavior, Canon-Typical Violence, Drug Use, Dysfunctional Family, Multi, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Burn, They all have a lot of growing up to do, Time Travel Fix-It, nothing happens until they're all off age, the umbrella academy golden days, thirteen year old Hargreeves siblings, vanya deserves better, very slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:54:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 54,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26109778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chevalier_Barthelemy/pseuds/Chevalier_Barthelemy
Summary: When the apocalypse happened, Five decided to jump in time but this time with his family. However, when the time portal turned out to be too small for them, he had no choice but to go alone and try to fix everything one more time. What he didn’t expect was to go back seventeen years in the past, right after he had jumped forwards in time all those years ago.With all that he knows about the future, can he manage to get things right this time around? Can he save Ben? Can he prevent Vanya from destroying everything? There was only one way to know. One thing’s for sure though, the commission wasn’t going to let him off easy this time.
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves/Luther Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Vanya Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 146
Kudos: 453





	1. The portal

For someone who could jump in time, he was ironically always the one running out of time, watching events unfold before him as an observer, unable to do anything. As a child, the thought that he could not just jump through space but also time, that he could, for a lack of a better word, bend the laws of physics to his will, fascinated him. He had been naïve, overestimated his abilities, thinking himself above the others.

Diego could throw knives with deadly accuracy. Luther could lift people three times his size. Ben had the power to create a portal and bring forth a tentacle horror. Allison had the power to control people, and Klaus could communicate with the dead. Yes, they were all special, that’s what they were told from the moment they were born. But there was a difference between special and extraordinary.

While their father encouraged competition, he often told them they were all equals, none of their abilities were beyond the others. But Five had always been arrogant, always saw himself as more. And how could he not? His powers were superior, and his intelligence far surpasses even that of adults. He was the prodigy of the family, whatever he did he excelled at, giving him a sense of grandeur that over-inflated his ego. At least that’s what his siblings often said. He never listened to them; they didn’t get it. So when he had asked, or more like demanded that he was ready for time travel, it had been a harsh blow to his ego when their father deemed him not just weak, but not smart enough to pull it off. In his frustration and anger, he let his ego control him and made, arguably, the worst decision in his life. Well, worst decision until now.

The time portal stood before him, the energy from it blowing his hair back, its bright blue light reflected in his eyes. Beside him, his siblings were looking at it with equal fear and uncertainty. They had been holding hands but a few seconds ago, determined to jump in together, but when Five gasped in shock and they all saw how small the portal was, they quickly realized their fate. There was no running, the apocalypse was coming and yet again he was running out of time.

“Damn it!” Five shouted at the portal, gripping his hair between his fingers.

“What? What’s wrong?” Asked Diego, always the slowest one of the family.

Frustrated, angry and scared, he turned on the spot and glared daggers at Diego.

“Can’t you see you moron? The portal’s way too small for us to jump through!” He shouted over the sound of all the chaos, of their world burning to pieces.

Diego’s brows furrowed. He seemed like he wanted to argue but decided not to.

“Is there any way?” Luther asked.

Five turned to look at him. He wanted to say that there was a way, that he had a clever idea up his sleeve as always, but found his head empty. The feeling of dread overtook all his senses.

Not needing him to say anything, Five watched as the hope in his brother’s eyes slowly faded away. At that moment he didn’t feel like the prodigy, the commission’s legend. He felt like a boy, unable to control anything happening around him. He had failed, all those years he had spent planning, trying to determine what caused the apocalypse, all wasted.

A loud bang came from outside, but the others didn’t seem to notice it or care. Their eyes were on him.

Luther sighed, his shoulders falling. His eyes shifted to the ground after he glimpsed at the portal one last time, and he frowned. Turning his attention back to Five, his frown deepened.

“We can’t go through that portal,” Luther stated the obvious. Five rolled his eyes.

Great, he was going to die surrounded by idiots.

“But you can Five, you can fit.” Luther took a step forward and clutched Five’s shoulder tightly. “You can go back in time and stop this from ever happening again.”

Five blinked.

For what felt like the longest time, he looked at his brother, his eyes wide.

Go back in time? Do that to himself again? What if he got stuck? All alone? He had not hesitated when he opened the portal because he had his family with him, but going alone? Could he do that again? He wasn’t a fool; he knew that all those years in isolation changed him, and not for the better. He didn’t want to accept that, blaming his state of mind on his age and his time in the commission, but that wasn’t entirely true. If he time skipped and got stuck in the future again, he wasn’t sure if he would even be himself anymore.

He opened his mouth, a resounding no in his lips, but then he saw the look of hope return to their eyes.

Trying not to think too much on the matter, lest he changed his mind, he held his breath and nodded.

Luther gave out a long sigh and let go of him.

There were no last goodbyes. He didn’t want to say anything, knowing it might change his mind.

Turning on the spot, he faced the portal once more, the force from it blowing his hair back. He didn’t know where the portal might take him this time, but if there was a chance he could save his family, he would take it.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped through the portal.

The first time someone jumped through time they would expect something big to happen, an explosion, something to signal the universe that an intruder from a different timeline had invaded their timeline. However, reality was never so interesting. One second Five was in the middle of the end of the world and then the next he was in a calm street, people casually walking on the sidewalk.

As the portal closed behind him, Five took in a deep breath and analyzed his surrounding, his eyes wide. His ears were ringing. The last thing he had heard before he stepped through the portal had been an ear-piercing explosion.

Feeling something slide down his jaw, he reached for his ear and pressed his fingers against it. Something liquid stained them. Bringing his hand down, he stared at the crimson liquid that was his blood.

Around him, people had stopped walking and instead opted to look at him, albeit keeping a wide berth as they stared at him like the strangest thing they had ever seen. Granted that he did literally jump out of a large blue portal out of thin air.

“F-”

Someone spoke, their voice muffled, sounding like it was coming from deep below water. Turning his head, he glanced over his shoulder to look at whoever had spoken. As soon as he turned and looked at the one that had made the sound, or rather the ones that had made the sound, his eyes widened and his mouth fell open.

“Five?” Luther asked, but it wasn’t Luther, at least not the Luther he had just left behind to his fate. This Luther was three times smaller than the other one, his body the right proportion, wearing the same uniform he was wearing, that of the umbrella academy.

Five cocked his head to one side.

All six of his siblings, all thirteen years old, stood on the stairs to their home, staring at him.

“Shit,” he mumbled before his eyes rolled back and everything turned black.


	2. Family reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you that didn’t notice before, I made a change to the pairing. This is going to be a Five/Vanya story, I just thought this story really set it up quite well so I decided to go with it. But don’t worry, there isn’t going to be anything while they’re underage, so they both have a lot of growing up to do before then.

From the moment she heard Five slam his knife against the table, she knew things weren't going to end well.

Forks halfway to their mouths, everyone around the table stopped what they were doing and stared at Five, eyes wide and brows raised. All that could be heard was the Herr Carlson tape droning on in the background, that and the clinking of cutlery against a plate as their father continued to eat, not so much as looking up.

The night before she had been making her way to her room when she heard the telltale sound of Five's spatial jumps coming from the training room. It wasn't rare to see one of her siblings taking the time to train on their own, outside their designated training hours, but it was rare to see any of them training so late in the evening.

Walking to the training room, she knocked on the door before coming in. Living in a house with seven siblings taught her to knock before entering any room, also because their dad insisted they always knock whenever they entered a closed room, it was good manners.

When no one answered, all she got was the sound of Five's spatial jumps, she opened the door.

Five was on the training mats, his usually tidy, combed hair was messy, flopping down his forehead, wet from sweat. His coat was lying on the floor, his shirt sleeves were rolled up and crumpled. His body was bent forward, resting his hands on his knees as he panted.

Vanya frowned, she'd never seen Five in such a state. Even when they came back from a mission he was always well-groomed, his clothes devoid of any wrinkles. He was always particular about his looks, to see him like this was odd. Something was definitely up.

As soon as she stepped inside the room, Five turned his head and looked at her. Straightening his back, Five pushed his hair back.

"Vanya," He said her name devoid of any surprise. "What are you doing here so late at night?" He asked.

Vanya stopped where the wooden floor met the training mats and tilted her head.

"Checking up on you," she responded. "What are you doing here so late?"

Five smirked and looked around the room, his eyes landing on her as if telling her the answer was obvious.

"Training," he answered and walked towards a table by the wall.

Vanya watched him as he grabbed a towel from the table and wiped the sweat from his forehead and the back of his neck, then proceeded to pour some water from a jar and onto a glass.

"But why? Isn't it a little late to be training?"

Five took a large gulp of his water and leaned back on the table, his posture always regal.

"It's never too late for training," he answered offhandedly, sounding a lot like their father.

Being the overconfident one of the family, everyone always blamed his snarkiness, and dismissiveness due to his overinflated ego as Diego put it. However, she knew better. He used his overconfidence in himself to keep others from realizing there was something wrong, but she could see through his facade. She could see it in the way he was gripping the glass a little too tightly, the way his jaws clenched every once in a while.

"Five," she insisted, using a little more inflation in her voice.

Looking up from his glass, Five looked at her for a little while. At first, she thought he wasn't going to tell her what was wrong, but then he sighed. He turned and put the glass of water on the table and turned to look at her, his brows knit together this time as he looked at her.

"I'm gonna tell dad I'm ready for time travel."

Vanya took in a sharp breath, her eyes widened.

"What?"

Rolling his eyes, Five crossed his arms.

"Do any of you ever listen?" He huffed. "I'm gonna time travel."

Despite having said it twice, it still didn't make sense to her. Time travel? Five was going to tell their father that he's ready for it, again?

Not caring that shoes aren't allowed in the training mats, Vanya walked towards Five, her brows sank.

"But Five, is it even safe? Last time you asked it didn't end well, you were grounded for three weeks."

Five waved his hand dismissively as if that didn't matter but she could see the way his lips twitched downwards a bit, probably not wanting to be reminded about the last time.

"Yes I know, but I can't just let that stop me." Vanya stopped in front of him, her eyes glinting with worry.

Five sighed.

"Look," he pressed his hands back on the table. "I know I can do it, dad just doesn't think I got it in me, but I know I can."

Vanya shook her head and sighed. She knew Five could do it, she didn't have a shred of doubt he could, he is the prodigy of the family. It's just that she didn't want to see their father's wrath targeted on him, on any of her siblings. She knew how impossible dad could make their lives if they crossed the line. If they misbehaved. He isn't a man of patience after all. Last time Five had been drowned with homework and training, unable to spend any leisure time or even so much as talk to the others due to being confined to his room. That punishment lasted for three weeks, there even came a point when they all started to worry about him.

"I know you can, you always succeed at everything you put your mind to." Five's lips twitched up for a second. She knew it was a bad idea to stroke his already overinflated ego, but she had to convince him somehow. "It's dad I'm worried about."

His expression soured once more.

"To hell with dad! He's always holding us all back, and for what?" He huffed. "You don't have to worry about me. I know I can do it, and he knows it. I'm stronger than the others, I'm ready for the next stage of my training" he snapped.

Looking away from her, he looked to the side, his jaw clenched his body tense. Not wanting to startle him, or make him shut her out, she sighed and placed her hand on his forearm. Slowly he turned to look at her, his frown softening, his angry expression changing to one of doubt.

She kind of understood what he was feeling. She knew he expected too much of himself, always needing to be the best at everything. She didn't share the feeling, being the complete opposite. He was extraordinary even amongst their family, while she's ordinary. He's confident, she's timid. He's unyielding, she's pliant. And yet, that's probably why they get along so well.

Klaus has Ben, Diego has mom, Luther has Allison, albeit their relationship is a lot different, and she's got Five. She's his confidant and vice versa. Every time training, or life in the academy in general, frustrated him he would talk to her, well more like she annoyed him until he spilled everything that was digging at him. So, of course, she felt it was her responsibility to stop him from making a mistake, who else was going to do it otherwise? Luther? She doubted Luther or anyone could convince him to change his mind, in fact, he would probably be more set on his plan.

"Please Five," she looked into his eyes. "Don't ask him."

As expected, Five shook his head and scoffed. She knew she was losing him.

"At least wait a little while longer before you ask again. The last time is still fresh," she insisted.

Once more, Five shook his head but when he looked at her his frown was gone, in its place was a look of vulnerability.

"Fine."

The next morning she realized that Five hadn't intended to keep his words, he still went on with his plan and demanded their father to let him try time-skipping. She had tried her best to get him to meet her eyes, to convince him to stop. Although their eyes did meet for a brief second, and she had shaken her head he still didn't listen to her. When their father refused to let him try time travel, she deflated somewhat, thinking that was the end of the argument, that is until Five had run out of the dining area and her heart skipped a beat.

Not one member of their family ever dared to do such a thing, to walk out on their father, to disobey him, she should have known that he would be the only one who was crazy enough to do it.

Standing up from her seat, alongside her other siblings, they all looked at the archway Five had disappeared through.

"Children! Sit down!" Their father grumbled, but for the first time ever, none of them listened. Vanya could barely hear a thing as she went after Five, the first one to do so, the others followed closely behind.

Running out of the opened door to the academy, Vanya looked around the street, desperately trying to spot Five. Thankfully, she didn't have to try very hard. Five was standing by the foot of the stairs, his back to them.

Her shoulders slumped and she let out a deep breath.

"Five!" She called and took a step to go to him but then a hand landed on her shoulder.

Looking back, she looked at the owner of the hand, Luther. She wanted to shake the hold, even though it was pointless, but when she noticed the frown in Luther's face and the look of concern she froze.

Turning her attention back on Five, she noticed how different Five looked. His uniform, that was clean and perfect but a few seconds ago was now rumpled, and covered in dirt, part of it torn. His hair was standing out in odd angles, unlike how he had it all tidy and perfectly combed before exiting the academy. But the weirdest thing was the blood sliding down his neck from his ears.

"Five," Ben called.

Slowly Five turned his head, looking over his shoulder to look at them. As soon as his eyes landed on them they widened, his mouth falling open. Vanya frowned and felt something in the pit of her stomach, something wasn't right.

"Five?" Luther asked, unsure.

They all looked at their brother with equal concern as he slowly turned on the spot and looked at them as if they were the biggest enigmas in the world.

Five opened and closed his mouth, his brows knit together, his shoulder's tense.

"Shit," Five managed to mumble before he fell back.

* * *

"Five, Five, Five, Five-"

Groaning, Five turned on his bed and gripped his pillow.

"Five...Five...Five…"

Five let out a sharp breath that sounded a lot like a hiss as the side of his head was poked over and over again.

"Drop dead Klaus," he mumbled, snuggling closer to his pillow. It's been a week since he's had a proper night's sleep, he wasn't going to let Kl-

Five's eyes snapped open. Klaus?

Turning on his bed, his sheets tangling around him in the process, he sat up and looked at the group gathered in front of his bed. Luther, Diego, Vanya, Klaus, Allison and Ben were standing in front of his bed, taking up most of the space in his small room. It gave him a feeling of Déjà vu seeing them all gathered, but that soon quickly changed to a feeling of shock and confusion when he realized that they were all three sizes too small.

Five's mouth fell open.

"Yup, he's fine," Klaus smirked, no doubt referring to his snarky response.

Five didn't care to respond or even acknowledge them, he was still far too shocked and confused by the situation. When in the hell did he end up this time?

Groaning, Five splayed his fingers over his eyes, rubbing them, thinking that maybe he was seeing wrong. However, when he peered through his fingers and saw the set of wide, overly innocent young eyes, he groaned once more and slumped back on his bed.

What the hell did he do? Granted that he had no idea where he'd end up, but he at least expected to end up somewhere else, most likely in the future or somewhere far in the past. He didn't expect to end up here! He wasn't exactly disappointed or angry, just another thing that hindered his plans. Trying to fix the future is going to be difficult if he has his family around, constraining him. Luther had stopped him from killing that gardener a few days ago, if he hadn't been around he would have acted differently. Of course, he now knew that killing that gardener wouldn't have changed anything but the point was that being with his family constrained him, either because his emotions were compromised or because he was trying to protect them. He was hoping to end up somewhere far from them where he wouldn't have to deal with them. They held him back.

"Five, are you alright?" Asked Luther.

Removing his arm from his face, Five looked at the tallest of all his siblings even at their young age.

Luther was frowning, his lips pressed into a thin line. It was actually kind of interesting how the younger version of Luther made the same facial expressions as the older versions of Luther. Looking away from him, he looked at the others and saw that they shared the same look of concern, but it was a lot different to the look of shock they shared when they had first seen him in the future, this could only mean one thing. He somehow managed to time skip right after he disappeared. To this version of his siblings, he never left.

Diego opened his mouth, but before he could say anything he door behind them opened.

"Children," the voice practically boomed even though it wasn't loud, nor angry and yet it commanded so much attention that all of them tensed, even Five.

Moving to one side, they all made space so their father could stand by the doorway and look at Five.

It's been forty-five years since he last saw his father, forty-five years since he disobeyed him. Never in his life had he disobeyed their father in such a manner, sure he used to be difficult at times as a boy, but he had never deliberately gone against any of his commands. It actually used to make him laugh sardonically when he had been stuck in the future. He never could do things half-assed could he? If he had to disobey their father it had to be against the most important command, didn't he? He couldn't have exercised his rebellious streak by running away, like any other thirteen year old? Nah, he had to get himself stuck in the future. The worst part was that he suspected that their father never so much as missed him, probably wasn't even concerned, probably just treated it as a step back from his plans of having the perfect _extraordinary_ team he always wanted.

Reginald's eyes fell on him, his brows crossed into a permanent scowl as always. Seems that some things don't change.

For a brief few seconds, Five held eye contact with his father. When he had been a boy it was difficult to meet his eyes, afraid of the disappointment they always seemed to show no matter what he did. Now, however, well, he's fifty-eight years old, he couldn't give a damn what his father thought, especially after all the bullshit he put all of them through. He wasn't a little boy, scared of disappointing his father.

"Go to your rooms, all of you," their father ordered.

Instantly everyone stumbled out of the room, not saying a word as they did nor looking back, all except for Vanya who stopped behind their father and looked at Five over his shoulder. Five knew she was looking at him, but he didn't take his eyes off his father as he closed the door to the room behind him, leaving them both alone.

His father took his hand off the doorknob and made his first question.

"How long were you stuck in the future?"

Five quirked a brow, not at all surprised that his father already knew that he had indeed managed to time skip. He did always seem to know things before they even happened, like how he somehow knew all about the apocalypse.

"Just a few months," he lied.

It had been a decision made on the spot, but a decision he stood by. Truth is, he doesn't trust their _father,_ much less after what he saw, of all the secrets he kept from them all. No, until he figured out what the hell he was going to do and determine if he could trust his father with the truth or not, he wasn't going to give up any of his secrets. He wasn't like the rest of his siblings, he didn't let personal feelings get in the way of what needed to get done, that's why he's such a good assassin. He wasn't lying to their father because he held a grudge, he just did it because he doubted he would take the news that Vanya needed to be taken out of her medication and taught to control her powers very well. Besides, it's not like he needed him, at least not yet. He's managed all alone for forty-five years.

Reginald raised a brow of his own, and tilted his head slightly. Five knew he didn't believe him, as he suspected he wouldn't.

"Is that so?"

Five nodded, not giving any further explanations, not that he would if he asked.

For a few second his father just stared at him in the eyes, until he suddenly nodded, not at all seeming like he believed him, but thankfully he didn't ask for further clarification. After all, his father was never one to engage them in conversation, usually keeping things short.

"I see." His father slipped his hand inside his vest and put the other on the doorknob. "You will remain inside your room until we can determine how much damage your mental state suffered from the ordeal, there will be no contact between you and the others until then. You will eat and do your studies here, I do not want to see you roaming the academy, is that understood number five?"

He wanted to snort, isolation? That was his punishment? He's been isolated for fifty years, he didn't fear being alone, not anymore anyway. Still, it didn't surprise him. He knew his father would choose to keep him isolated, it wouldn't be the first time. When Diego had thrown his knife at the wall in frustration from an argument he had with Luther, their father also punished him with isolation. Of course, it was never for too long, just a couple of days and they were never truly isolated. Pogo and Grace would come to visit. But in his case he suspected he'll be forced to stay in isolation a bit longer than a few weeks. As a child he would have hated the idea of not being able to be around his siblings, and worse, being drowned by so much homework. Such things didn't scare him anymore. However, if he was going to keep up appearances with his lie, he needed to act the part.

Gritting his teeth together, Five glared up at his father, acting every bit the rebellious member of the family he used to be in his youth.

"Is that understood number Five?" His father raised his voice.

Five huffed, looked out the window and watched as rain began to hammer against the glass, then turned to look at him with a cocky smile on his lips.

"Understood, _sir."_

Reginald raised up to his full height and raised his head and looked down his nose at him. Not saying anything further, he watched as his father opened the door and left, closing the door behind him, leaving him alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Number Five is honestly such a difficult character to write! Ugh, I hope I'm doing him justice.
> 
> Anyways, please comment and let me know!


	3. Cooped up

It was cloudy outside, the last couple of weeks consumed by bad weather, not too surprising seeing as winter was coming.

Standing by the window, Five was writing down formulas on the glass, a tiny piece of chalk between his chalk covered fingers, a frown dominated his face as he concentrated. Around him, every blank surface was covered by equations and names, the biggest name being that of Harold Jenkins, highlighted with a large circle. Apart from the mess that were the walls, the rest of the room was in similar disarray. The bed was unmade, the blankets laying haphazardly half on top of the bed and half on the floor. Crumpled papers covered most of the floor, alongside clothes. On the night table, there was a plate with a half-eaten bagel, small crumbles surrounded the plate.

He wasn't usually a messy individual, in fact, he used to scoff at Klaus for being messy. But with so many things on his mind, so much on the line, he couldn't bring himself to care. Of course, Grace would come in every morning and clean things up only for him to leave the room just as messy as it had been before she came in.

When he heard the door open, Five didn't so much as stop writing, even for a brief second, his eyes glued on the walls yet he knew exactly who it was that had entered his room.

"Sorry Pogo, I'm not up to talking today," he continued to write his formula on the window.

"Master Five… you've been subjecting the walls with suffering for weeks, don't you think they need a break?"

Five didn't even acknowledge him, he simply finished an equation and took a step back to examine it. His eyes switched from number to number in a flash, then he leaned down on the table beside him and wrote down on the opened book lying on top of it. From it he looked back at the window, examining the equation. His eyes narrowed when he noticed a small mistake. Spatial jumping to the wall with the door, beside Pogo, he erased one of the numbers with his thumb and wrote down a different one.

"It's been a week since your father gave the word that you're allowed to join the others in training, yet you haven't come out of your room."

Five bit down on his bottom lip in concentration, his fingers writing on the wall at an incredible speed.

"Your siblings are worried about you, master Five."

Once again Five paid him no attention. Turning on the spot he walked to the table where he had left his notebook when his foot snagged with the blanket and he fell face-first onto the floor. Around him, papers flew up from the impact. Five huffed and blew his bangs away from his eye.

"Master Five," Pogo said his name with frustration this time. "Your father insists that you must get out of your room, staying cooped up for too long is not good for your health."

Five twisted on the spot and propped himself on his elbow and looked at Pogo for the first time since he had walked inside the room.

"Insists?" He asked, a cocky smile forming.

Pogo nodded,

"Yes."

Five snorted, knowing his father said no such thing.

"Really?" He drawled.

Losing his patience, Pogo let out a sharp breath, his lips thinned.

"Yes master Five, if you preferred he can come tell you himself."

Five quirked a brow, his smile stretched from ear to ear.

He knew Pogo's threats were empty, and even if he did what was his father going to do? Order him to get out of his room or he'll be grounded for another few weeks? What? not being able to spend time with the others during recreational hours on Saturday? That worked when he was thirteen. Besides, he long suspected that his father already unravelled his lie about only spending a few months in the future, otherwise he would have called him to his office to reprimand him on his behaviour long ago. The fact that he was leaving him to his own demise told him that the old man must have figured at least half of the truth.

Pogo frowned, no doubt confused by his reaction. He knew that, usually, when Pogo threatened to get their father when they were being particularly difficult the others usually scrambled to do whatever he asked. He had been the same too.

Sighing, Five brought himself back to his feet. He was being a little too difficult, he hadn't had a cup of coffee in weeks after all. Still, he needed to keep up appearances that he was still thirteen year old Five, and thirteen year old Five would have followed Pogo's orders.

Five stretched his neck from side to side and made his way to the closet.

"I'll be up there in a few minutes."

Pogo remained on the same spot for a couple of seconds, no doubt concerned and confused by his behaviour.

"I'm sure the others will be happy to see you at lunch."

With that Five heard the door open and close.

Five sighed and shook his head as he made his tie. 

* * *

Ever since the whole time travelling argument Five had with their father, things have been...weird.

When she had exited the academy and saw the state Five had been in she had felt her heart skip a beat, her eyes widening when he fainted. Thankfully Luther had caught him before Five could hit the ground and carried him to the infirmary so Grace could treat their brother. Not once did their father make an appearance, not once did he come to check what was going on, instead he commanded them to return to the academy and return to their breakfast, all but Luther. Knowing that they were hitting their father's patience threshold, they all marched back to the dining room.

After breakfast, everything went more or less the same as always, albeit difficult seeing as she had a hard time concentrating. They submerged themselves in their individual studies until lunch came and they sat around the table in silence as always. She had wanted to ask Luther if Five was alright but she refrained from doing so, knowing that their father had enough acts of disobedience for one day.

So after finishing her afternoon studies and after watching the others train, she finally had the rest of the day for herself. Once they were dismissed she had made her way to Five's room, having heard that he had been transferred there sometime during their studies.

When she heard the set of footsteps following her, she knew that the others were headed towards the same direction. They may all have their difficult moments with Five, but she knew that they all worried about him. He had, after all, ran out of the academy only to just stand at the doorstep with a battered uniform, and bruises everywhere, not to mention the look he gave them. It didn't make sense.

She had been the first one to reach Five's room, but that didn't stop her other siblings from more or less pushing her so she stood behind them. No one said a word as they watched Five sleep until Klaus decided to lean forward and started to obnoxiously poke him, on the back of the head.

When Five had finally woken up they were all confused when he looked at them all with shock, as if he hadn't expected to see them. They had every intention of coming short of interrogating Five but before they could so much as ask a question, their father came in and sent them all back to their rooms.

For weeks Vanya had tried to sneak into Five's room or try to catch him on his way to the bathroom to talk to him, to make sure he was alright. However, every time she tried to go inside his room she found it locked, and no amount of knocking prompted him to open the door or even respond. Catching him on his way to the bathroom didn't help either seeing as she suspected that he spatial jumped from his room to the bathroom and then back. Why was he avoiding her? She honestly had no clue, it wasn't like Five to completely ignore her and she wasn't the only one. The others have tried to knock on his door but, much like he did with her, he didn't respond. The most any of them got were the few glimpses they got of him whenever Grace or Pogo unlocked his door and went inside his room. Every time she did manage to catch a glimpse of him he was always doing the same thing, writing either on his notebook or on the walls, completely focused on his task.

Amongst themselves, a rumour started to circulate that Five had lost it, their father did say that time travel could have negative effects on the mind. She dearly hoped not. As for whether Five did indeed manage to time skip was a heavily debated topic amongst them.

"I think Five managed to time skip," Vanya had been the first to suggest one day during one of their _sibling_ meetings that she wasn't usually invited to.

Luther waved her suggestion away.

"I doubt it, there's no way Five could do it without dad's help."

"Wait Luther, I think Vanya is onto something," Ben jumped in, always the one to not completely shut down her ideas.

Luther sighed.

"Look Ben, there's just no way. It took Five years to successfully achieve a spatial jump, now you're telling me he managed to do a complete time jump and back in a matter of seconds?"

Ben shrugged.

"Oh, then how else do you explain his state when he was literally fine when he exited the academy?"

Luther opened and closed his mouth, trying to come up with an answer.

"Well...he-"

"Children," Pogo called them, breaking up the conversation.

An entire week had gone by after that meeting, a week since their father gave the go-ahead for their brother to rejoin them, lifting his punishment and still no sight of Five. It became more and more obvious that Five was indeed avoiding them, but why? She didn't know. The mystery grew so much in fact that Allison had suggested rumouring him to tell them what's going on, but interestingly enough it was Luther who shot down the idea completely.

"No, you know the rules. There's no using our powers on each other."

That had been a surprise to see Luther go against anything Allison said, and thankfully Allison hadn't argued, she just waved him away. And so they didn't get any closer to solving the mystery.

Making her way to line up with the others to head to lunch as usual, she took her spot behind Ben. In front of her, Diego and Klaus were talking in hush voices, chuckling every once in a while. Ben had a book in his hand, paying them no attention as he read. Allison was dreamily looking at the back of Luther's head, causing Luther's ears to redden.

Vanya looked at Klaus and Ben and noticed the small space they left between them, almost as if they were so used to having Five there that it was an unconscious thing to do.

Thinking about Five, she wondered how he was doing? Almost as if on cue, they heard a set of footsteps coming from behind.

As one, they all snapped their heads to look behind them and her brows flew up.

Five was making his way toward them, busy fixing his already perfect tie. It's been a month since he's come out of his room, but she was still surprised to see the small, yet noticeable differences in him. His hair for one was slightly longer, especially around his bangs, which oddly enough wasn't combed back as it usually was but rather flopping down the side of his forehead. But that wasn't the biggest change, there was something else she couldn't quite make out...it was just in the way he carried himself.

"Five," everyone gasped his name with equal shock.

Said brother, however, didn't say anything as he simply walked to the line, taking his spot between Klaus and Ben.

Being the _quiet_ one, as Klaus put it, she spent more time examining things rather than speaking, so she easily caught the way everyone's shoulders unconsciously loosened when Five took his spot amongst them, Five included. Having spent their entire lives together, despite the differences they might have, things just didn't feel right if one of them is missing. It made her wonder if they would feel the same way without her around? She very much doubted it, they never did seem to miss her after coming back from a mission.

No doubt feeling their eyes on him, Five looked up from his tie and quirked a brow.

"What?" He asked, nonchalantly.

Allison took a step out of the neatline they had formed to completely face Five.

"What? What do you mean what?" She sputtered. "Where have you been for the entire month?"

"Oh that," Five looked back down at his tie and continued to fix it. "I've been occupied."

This time it was Luther who turned around and opened his mouth, a frown on his face. Before he could say anything however, Grace ran the bell.

Slipping back into her spot, they all made their way to the dining area, forgetting all further questions they may have. The last thing they all wanted was to anger their father on the first day Five decided to be part of the family once again.

Taking their seat, with their father joining them a few seconds later, they all started to eat without saying a word. Of course, that didn't stop them from staring at Five the whole time, who acted oblivious of their staring as he ate bite after bite. As expected, their father didn't seem to notice Five's presence at the table and vice versa Five didn't seem to care either.

Itching to be dismissed, when their father finally gave the go-ahead they all nearly jumped up from their seats and turned to face Five who was still sitting on his chair, finishing his orange juice.

Diego was the first to break the silence.

"So…"

Five took the last gulp of his juice, put the glass down on the table and finally looked up at Diego. Tilting his head, his usual cocky smile on his lips, Five put his elbows on the table and folded his hands.

"So what? You'll need to be a little bit more specific Diego, perhaps you should practice a little more on how to start a proper conversation," Five smirked.

Diego's nose flared, his jaws clenched.

"Y-yo-you li-little-"

Before things could escalate, Ben placed a hand on Diego's shoulder.

"What Diego meant to ask is what's been going on Five?" It was Luther who spoke this time, Five's attention turning away from Diego to him. "You demanded that dad let you try time travel, next thing we know we followed you out of the academy to find you in a completely different state than you were that morning. Then you refuse to come out of your room for an entire month, what the hell's going on?"

Luther's frown deepened which she noticed only made Five's smile grow wider. When Luther opened his mouth, Vanya interrupted him for the first time ever.

"Five," she called his name softly. Five kept his eyes on Luther for a few more seconds before he turned to look at her, his brows softening somewhat. "We're just worried about you, we haven't heard a word or even seen you for a month. We just want to know what's going on."

They all nodded in unison. Five looked away from her to look at them all. Sighing, his smile slipping he leaned back on his chair.

"I time travelled," was all he said.

Everyone gaped, even Vanya. She of course knew he must have, but it was still a shock to hear it.

Luther opened his mouth to speak when they heard a door behind them opened. All six of them looked over their shoulders, when they noticed it was just mom coming inside the room to take the empty plates away, they all turned their attention back on Five who was nowhere to be seen.

"You gotta be kidding me," Diego huffed, running towards the stairs, Vanya and the others followed closely behind, completely baffled with Five's behaviour. Sure he was a little _prickly,_ for a lack of a better word, but he wouldn't outright ignore them. He's been cooped up in his room for a month and when he finally comes out he decided not to even acknowledge them, there's definitely was something going on.

"Where are you going, Diego?" Asked Ben.

"T-to finally get som-some answers," Diego's stutter slipped again.

She knew he was more curious than worried about Five, his curiosity reaching its limit.

When they reached Five's room, they all gathered around the door, Luther standing in front of them all.

"Five?" Luther knocked gently.

No answer.

Luther reached for the doorknob and turned it a little too sharply, causing it to give out a loud clunk sound.

"Woops."

She didn't know if it had been a mistake or not, but Diego didn't waste any time to push the door open. Uninvited, her siblings spilled into Five's room while she stayed behind, not wanting to barge into Five's room but that didn't keep her from looking over their shoulders. On her first glance inside the room, her eyes widened.

"What the hell?"

"Holy shit."

Both Diego and Klaus said in unison.

Five's room was a complete mess, more so than Klaus's and that was an accomplishment, but the most shocking thing was the writing on the wall. Covering the pasty colour walls were what she could only guess were math equations written with chalk. There were so many equations in fact that the wall colour was barely visible.

Klaus walked to the center of the room and turned in a circle, looking at the ceiling and walls, his brows raised, shock evident on his face.

"Guys, I think Five's gone cuckoo."

The others nodded in agreement, even Vanya's eyes were wide, her brows raised, her expression overcome with worry. What was wrong with Five?

"If you break it you buy it, Luther, you owe me a new doorknob."

Vanya nearly jumped two feet in the air. Turning, she looked back at Five who had his hands inside his pant pockets, his brows furrowed, lips formed into a tight line.

Vanya and the other parted a bit so Five could walk into his room. Leaning on the window sill, Five turned to look at them all.

"Can't you just knock like regular, decent human beings rather than barging into my room as you please?" He huffed.

Luther stroked the back of his neck, looking a little sheepish, Diego however wasn't at all affected.

Gesturing at the door, Diego said.

"We did knock."

Five cocked his head, his attention landing on Diego.

"Well I clearly wasn't in the room was I?"

"I- we-well, no- b-but you left without answering our question," Diego defended.

"I thought I did, I said I time-travelled didn't I?"

"Yea, and left out e-everything else!" Diego growled, waving his arms.

"Yea Five, you can't just drop something like that on a guy and just hightail it," Klaus slumped down on Five's bed, right at home with all the mess. "Like, are the Backstreet Boys still together?"

Allison rolled her eyes.

"What did you see in the future Five?" She asked, crossing her arms.

Walking into the room, Vanya stood behind her siblings as they all stared at Five, who simply just stood there, not at all fazed by the attention.

"Well, let's just leave it at that it's got its problems."

Diego narrowed his eyes.

"What does that mean?"

Five crossed his arms, a smile forming on his lips.

"It means that you'll just have to wait until you get there," he answered.

The other opened their mouths to protest but stopped when Luther took a step forward and stood in front of Five, towered over him. Vanya and the others tensed. They had seen that air and posture on Luther before, the one that told them ' _I am the leader and you will do what I say.'_ That rarely worked on any of them, in fact, it only made things worse especially when either Diego or Five were involved. If there's one thing she hated above all else was to see any of them fighting.

"Is there something you aren't telling us?" Luther asked, his eyes narrowing.

Five pushed himself off the window sill and met Luther's eyes, needing to crane his neck ever so slightly, yet not at all fazed by their taller brother as he smiled.

"If I thought you needed to know something _number one_ , I would have told you already."

Before Luther could say anything else, Five stepped around him.

"If you insist on staying in my room you can have it," with that Five spatial jumped out of the room, Vanya had opened her mouth to stop him but he was gone before she could say anything.

"Well, that went well," Klaus mused and Luther huffed.

* * *

Night had fallen, under his sheets, surrounded by all the mess, Five slept. The room was quiet, not a sound to be heard, just the faint sound of cars in the distance.

The window near Five's bed slowly pulled up. A dark figure, shrouded by the darkness slipped in through the window. Turning his head, the intruder looked at Five's sleeping form and tentatively took a step forward, only for his foot to hit a small wire.

"Ow!"

Five's eyes snapped open. He didn't so much as hesitate nor waste any time to spatial jump to his window and towards the intruder. Said intruder didn't even have a chance to move before Five used all his body strength to pin him down with a loud thump. Grabbing him by the back of his neck he pushed him down on the back with his knee.

Under him, the intruder gave out a sharp squeal and instantly raised his hands in surrender.

"Hey, hey! It's me jackass!"

Five cocked his head, his brows furrowed.

"Klaus?"

Thanks to the moonlight now hitting the side of both their faces, Five could see Klaus's face. His eyes were wide, his brows raised.

"Are you gonna let me up any time soon?" Klaus huffed, his voice muffled from having his face pressed against the floor.

Five sighed.

Letting go of Klaus he stepped back. Klaus instantly took in a long sharp breath, meanwhile, Five leaned back on his dresser. He was looking down at Klaus with all the calm in the world, not at all winded, but inside he was anything but. He had come this close to just snapping Klaus's neck, having had expected one of the Temps assassins, he had been wondering as to why they hadn't made a visit yet after all. The only thing that had stopped him from killing Klaus was that cowardly cry of pain of his brother.

"Damn Five, if you wanted a piece of this hot business you should have just said so," Klaus rolled onto his back, propping himself on his elbows and rubbed the back of his neck.

By the sluggish way he moved, it was clear that he was high but from what? He knew that it was around this age that Klaus started smoking weed, but he didn't smell like he had. Sniffing glue? He wouldn't put past him.

"Were you expecting company? I mean if you're trying to capture the tooth fairy I'd recommend you use another method that doesn't involve manhandling. Maybe ask her out to dinner first before you get down to business."

Five rolled his eyes, apparently, there was literally no difference between thirteen-year-old Klaus and thirty-year-old Klaus, no surprise there. On the other hand, he was glad Klaus was waving the whole thing away with humour. He really rather not have to explain why he had to booby trap his window.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you still believe in that crap." Five gestured at him with his chin. "What are you doing here anyway?"

By the way he’s been ignoring, and treated them after lunch he thought they wouldn’t want anything to do with him which meant that this was some sort of plan. He was actually surprised by their change in tactic, instead of hounding him for answers it seems that they were trying to get him to open up to them. Such a plan wasn’t something Luther could come up with, neither Klaus, Allison or Diego so he blamed it entirely on Ben and Vanya. Well it wasn’t going to work either way, he knew they meant well, being both worried and curious but he was going to leave telling them anything as a last resort. 

Klaus shrugged and smiled.

"Because I was the only one with the fucking balls to do it."

"Stop lying dumbass!" Diego instantly shot back from outside the room. Five raised a brow and looked out the window. Standing by the building was Diego, who was standing on Luther's shoulders.

"Alright, alright, I was the only one tall enough to reach your window."

Five looked back at Klaus who was now standing on his own two feet, stretching his back.

"You still haven't answered my question, what the hell are you doing here?"

Klaus walked to the desk and leaned down to look at the various things on its surface like they were the most interesting things he'd ever seen.

"You know what you got Five? Klaus asked.

Five crossed his arms and smirked.

"Oh, what's that?" He asked, playing along. If anyone knew what was up with him, it definitely wouldn't be Klaus.

Turning his attention away from the desk and toward Five with a flourish, Klaus gestured with his hands.

"Claustrophobia," Klaus answered simply.

Letting out a snort, Five quirked a brow and gestured at the room.

"Does this look like a small, confined space to you?" Five shook his head. "Do you even know the definition of claustrophobia in the first place?"

Klaus nodded his head quickly.

"Oh yea, it's when you stay in a place too long, you know, confined."

Five wanted to facepalm.

"That's cooped up you dumbass," he growled.

Klaus waved his hand, not seeming to care. God, how did he survive living around this moron for thirteen years?

"Yea yea, whatever. The point's that you've been in here too long, so we all decided to go out on a little outing."

Five's scowl immediately slipped off his face.

A memory of the seven of them sitting around Griddy's counter, laughing between large bites of donuts flashed inside his mind. Such a long time had passed since that memory that it felt like it had come from another life altogether. Standing there, It made him stop for the first time since he arrived at this timeline as he realized that he was literally relieving that memory. Them going from window to window to gather each one of their siblings, chuckling in the dark. When they sneaked out they usually used the pipes close to their windows to get down, well they did while he just spatial jumped to the grass below. They avoided the hallways and main entrance because Pogo and Grace sometimes like to patrol the hallways at night, especially Grace.

Out of all the memories he had of the academy, all their overnight excursions were the few memories he refused to forget. In fact, during his first few weeks in the future, he had visited the mostly destroyed donut shop. He remembered how he had sat by the partially destroyed counter all on his own.

"Five?" Klaus called his name, sounding a little worried.

Realizing that he had spaced out, Five shook his head and cleared his throat to re-gathered himself.

"You all go ahead, I think I'll skip on this one," he said offhandedly as if he didn't care to go with them, inside however he was everything but indifferent on the matter.

He felt nostalgia, and what? sadness? Still, no matter how much he had wanted to take back his decision to jump to the future when he was a kid, the truth of the matter was that he couldn't take it back, something he quickly learned in his older years. On the other hand, he was surprised they even wanted him to come along, not after what happened that afternoon.

"No, no, no, we're doing this for you bro. You're c-coming with us," Diego growled with a hushed voice. "What's w-wrong with you anyways, sneaking out is always your idea."

Five opened his mouth to respond when Luther groaned in pain.

"Can you hurry up! My shoulders are killing me!"

"Stop crying like a little girl," Diego growled back.

Five could practically see older Diego and Luther arguing in the same manner. Clearly Klaus wasn't the only one that hadn't grown up.

"Yea, and today I'm not up to it."

Once more Diego growled in frustration but before he could say anything, Klaus sauntered to where he was standing and draped his arm over his shoulders. Five grimaced, Klaus smelled like he opted to skip the shower after training.

"Come oooooon don't be a tight-ass, we already got Ben for that."

"What did he say?" Five vaguely heard Ben ask.

Klaus tilted his head to one side, a wicked smile on his lips that made Five frowned.

"Or we could all just hang in here, I'm sure we could-"

Five gave out a long, irritated sigh. He looked up at Klaus, a no on his lips but then he noticed the glint in his eyes that told him that he was one hundred percent dead set on carrying out his threat if he didn' do what he asked.

Shaking Klau's arm off of him, Five hissed.

"Fine,"

Klaus clapped his hands together.

"See, that wasn't so hard now was it?"

Closing his eyes, Five counted to ten. The faster he went with them the faster he could get back home and sleep. Besides, what's the danger in going on a little excursion?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So far I have made my list of the hardest characters to write
> 
> Five
> 
> Klaus
> 
> Reginald
> 
> The rest are all pretty straightforward, but these three! I have to go back and edit their dialogue time and time again! It's hard, but also fun to do!
> 
> As always, thanks to everyone who’s reading and supporting this story, I’m really happy everyones liking it so far!


	4. The Super Star Lanes

Five sat beside the ball returner machine, chin propped on his hand, lips set into a thin line as he watched his brothers and sisters playing bowling.

After they managed to convince him in coming with them or force him more like it, they went to get Allison and Vanya. When they reached Allison's window she was already by the side of the building, waiting for them. The last had been Vanya who was still up in her room waiting for them. Being the only non athletically inclined of the bunch seeing as she wasn't forced to undergo training every day, she was scared of climbing down her window so, in order to get her down Luther, Diego and Ben had to painstakingly help her. For this very reason, the others usually opted to leave her behind. When he had been the same age as them he hadn't thought too much about not including her, it was much easier to just leave her behind but things were different now.

Briefly wondering as to where they were going, Klaus had decided they should go to the Super Star Lanes seeing as they had apparently gone to Griddy's last time. If it were up to him he would have gone to Griddy's and finally get that cup of coffee he's been oh so craving ever since he arrived on this timeline. He was hoping that maybe they served coffee at the Super Star, but no such luck. Alcohol was also out of the question, and even if it was they didn't sell any.

Five grit his teeth when yet another damn brat had happy birthday sung to him.

This place is too frustratingly child friendly. How did they expect parents to survive in an environment where children were screaming at the top of their lungs and teenagers were roughhousing and just overall being teenagers, like his siblings for example.

Klaus shuffled to the bowling lane, carrying the ball with both his hands. Kneeling on the floor, he set the ball on the ground and pushed it towards the pins, much like the five-year-olds on the lane beside them. Around them, people laughed at Klaus's antics.

"A-are you gonna keep fo-fooling around or are you a-actually going to play anytime so-s-soon?" Asked Diego, frustration clear in his voice.

After deciding to create two teams to play against each other, Diego had chosen Klaus to be part of his team, followed by Ben. On the opposite team Luther ,Allison and Vanya, who only got into their team because she was the last to be picked, as usual. He, on the other hand, had decided to sit the game out seeing as they weren't an even number, and even if they were he would rather go through another apocalypse than play such a silly sport.

Klaus sat beside Diego, behind him the ball he had pushed went straight into the gutter, Klaus however didn't seem to care.

"Aww, is little baby Diego angry because he's getting beaten?" Klaus asked with a baby voice, pinching Diego's cheek who swatted him away and glared.

"I knew we should h-have set up b-bumpers for you, at least then you would have hi-hit something."

Despite having pinpoint accuracy and getting strikes in every try, Diego's team was losing, one because Klaus hadn't even managed to knock one pin down. Ben had tried, but he wasn't any good at bowling and so only managed to bring a few down. On the other team, Luther and Allison were taking the game very seriously, focusing every time their turn came and knocking as many pins as possible. Even Vanya wasn't doing so bad, at least a lot better than Klaus and Ben.

Grabbing her ball, Allison made her way to the lane and rested the ball against her chin. After a few seconds of concentration, she wound back her arm and threw the ball. Everyone watched as the ball remained faithful to its trajectory and knocked down all the pins.

"Yea!" Luther roared.

Allison turned on the spot, bit her bottom lip and pumped her fist. She made her way towards Luther and high fived him. Five turned to look at Vanya who remained on her spot but was smiling and praising Allison.

Diego scoffed and jumped to his feet.

"That's it, I'm going to the pool tables."

Before Diego could walk away, a soft voice behind them muttered.

"He-hello!"

On cue, everyone turned to look at the two girls standing by the ball returner. They were both around their age, one with blond hair the other with brown hair set into ponytails. Between each of their hands they clutched a comic book tightly.

"Co-could we get your autographs?" One of them asked, her voice barely audible, her cheeks red.

Rolling his eyes, Five sighed.

This was definitely something he didn't miss. The fangirls, or fans in general. The last thing they wanted when they slipped out of the academy was to hear anything about the academy, they did this to get away from it all after all. However, as Allison often said, the life of a celebrity is devoid of any privacy. That's why they came to Super Star because it's on the lower end of the city and a bit secluded, still, fans would find them, just like they did now.

Already beyond irritated, Five turned his body so he could face them more properly and glared at them, a half-smile on his lips.

"Can't you see we're-" before Five could finish, Allison intervened.

"Sure."

Five looked over his shoulder to glare at Allison but she was looking at the girls, a forced friendly smile on her face. He let out a long breath in annoyance.

Practically jumping on the spot, they smiled so widely he feared they might split their face in half.

As a pair, their eyes widened in excitement, they went to Lutherfirst whom they were eyeing and blushing. The tallest of his brothers took the pen and comics from them, a small forced smile on his lips as he signed the front covers. Seeing his smile, the girls blushed even harder. It was no secret that nearly all fangirls gushed about Luther, saying he was the most good looking one of them all, something they all used to tease him about except for Allison who clearly hated all the attention her _crush_ was getting.

One by one the girls went to get each of their autographs, stopping to look at Vanya with confusion but didn't say anything. It wasn't a very well known knowledge that they had another sibling, that they weren't just six but seven of them, so the girls probably thought she was a friend.

When it was Five's turn he nearly refused, but then he realized that they'd probably keep annoying him, so he practically yanked the pen out of the girl's hand and sloppily signed the number five on both the covers.

With all six autographs, the girls couldn't help but squeal softly as they looked at all their signatures, which were literally glorified numbers, numbers that were worth a pretty penny. Their autographs were rare, very rare. It wasn't like their father let them hang out with fans nor did they want to. When they did give a fan their autographs it was during one of the interview conferences their father set up, and even then it was rare to have all six of their autographs in one item. Last time he checked, a lunch box of theirs went for two grand, of course, that was after he disappeared and his autograph increased in value. So what they just gave these fans was a small treasure, well for Umbrella academy fans anyways.

Being who he is, as soon as Klaus realized how much their combined signatures were worth and so he started to hound them for their autographs so he could sell them and use the money to buy drugs. Of course, they all refused but did use Klaus's idea to get some money every now and again, splitting it between the six of them. They argued that since Vanya wasn't a member of the umbrella academy, she didn' get any of the money but in hindsight, he realized how unnecessarily mean that was.

After Ben gave them their autograph, they grinned and thanked him.

Turning his attention from the girls, he looked at Vanya who was fidgeting with the sleeve of her shirt, looking down at the ground, her face hidden behind her hair.

Before he even realized it, he opened his mouth.

"You're missing one more autograph," he spoke above the girl's voices, turning his eyes on them.

The girls looked at each other and then back at him with a frowned, unsure as to what he meant.

"That girl there, the one you so tactfully avoided" Five-pointed at Vanya who snapped her head up and looked at him with wide eyes. "She's our sister, number seven."

Around him, his other siblings frowned and looked at him like he'd just gone insane. The girls too looked at him with confusion, their cheeks reddened from having been called out for ignoring Vanya, it actually angered him more.

One of them opened her mouth, probably to apologize but Luther spoke up.

"Don't worry about it," he assured the girls with a smile. "You didn't miss anyone, she's not one of us, you don't need her autograph, she-"

"Luther!" Ben reprimanded, looking at Luther with disbelief while Five glared daggers at him.

Not understanding his brothers reaction, Luther scowled and opened his mouth but was interrupted before he could say anything.

Vanya sighed.

"It's alright Five, Ben." Vanya gave him a forced smile, hurt clear in her eyes. "Luther's right, I'm not a member of the team, they don't need my autograph."

Awkwardness and tension dominated the air. The members of the umbrella academy shifted on their spot, looking at Vanya with guilty expressions, even Luther lost his scowl as he realized how hurtful he had just been, but it was now too late to take it back. And therein was the crux of their problem. They never meant to hurt Vanya, but they still did it without realizing it. Excluding her from everything, barely paying her any attention, belittling everything she said, she was the outcast and for once it wasn' entirely their father's fault. How hard could it be to simply include her in all their sibling bonding? To listen to her? To just overall treat her like a member of the family? It wasn't very hard at all, and he wished it was all his brothers and sister's fault but he knew he was lying to himself. While he was close to Vanya, more than the others, when he was young he often fell in line with his siblings' attitude towards her and so he didn't often include her in things. Well he isn't thirteen anymore, he wasn't going to standby and let things go on the way they are, not just because he needed to change the future but because it's the proper thing to do.

Luther opened and closed his mouth, genuinely guilty.

"Vanya, that's not what I meant I-"

"No I know, that's why it's alright, don't worry about it Luther," she assured him, and Five realized that she was turning the blame on herself as if Luther's hurtful words were her fault.

Luther clenched his jaw, and frowned, looking like he felt even worse rather than better by Vanya's words. However, he still didn't apologize.

"If you say so," he grumbled, refusing to apologize, to admit he was in the wrong. For the one-millionth time in his life he wanted to punch Luther in the face.

Shaking away the awkwardness as if nothing had happened, both the girls smiled broadly once more and looked at them, not leaving like they were supposed to. Instead, they started to bombard them with questions upon questions.

"Is it true that you can lift a car over your head?" One asked Luther, eyes wide.

Luther shifted on his spot, looking a little self-conscious.

"I -er…"

"Can you actually see dead people? What about animal ghosts? Can you see them too or is it just people?" The other asked Klaus before Luther could answer his question.

For the first time, Klaus seemed a little surprised and uncomfortable, his eyes widening at being interrogated.

"I never-"

Once again the girls didn't let Klaus answer as they moved on to another question, doing the same thing over and over again.

"I heard you're so accurate that you can split a hair in half with your knife! How do you do that?"

"Well-"

"Can you actually control anyone? I would die for a power like that!"

"I suppose-"

"Do tentacles really sprout out of your stomach? That is so weird but cool!"

"Ok…"

The girls didn't once give them a chance to answer any of their questions, happy with just gushing about them and overall being obnoxious fangirls.

Five's brows knit, his anger rising especially as he saw people were starting to take notice of them. All around the bowling alley people murmured to each other and pointed fingers at them, no doubt asking each other where they knew them from. They weren't wearing their uniforms, much less their masks, just normal civilian clothes so they hadn't noticed them.

One of the girls turned to look at him, practically jumping up and down from all the excitement.

"How far can you teleport? Can you teleport to the other side of the planet? Can you teleport to the moon? Can you-"

"Shut up!" Five snapped.

Everything seemed to grow so quiet as the girls shut their mouths and looked at him taken aback. He noticed that the people that had been looking at them turned their attention away from them, no doubt realizing that it was rude to stare.

Five glared at the girl and gave them one of his mocking smiles.

"We gave you our autographs, now could you please just get out of our sight?"

The girl's shoulders slumped and tilted their heads down, their cheeks a full-blown red like a tomato. He didn't feel at all sorry.

After mumbling their apology, they finally decided to turn and leave.

"Jeez Five, what's got you panties in a twist?" Klaus asked, leaning back on the booth and spreading his arms on the backrest.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know you wanted them to stay longer so they could ask us what brand of shampoo we use, or where we buy our underwear," Five hissed sarcastically.

Klaus shrugged, not at all seeming like he minded.

"Nah, Five's right. They were p-pretty annoying, we're just here t-trying to bowl. It's disrespectful if you ask me."

Allison sat beside Luther and crossed her legs.

"That just goes with the gig Diego."

Diego waved her away.

"Y-yea whatever, let's j-just get back to bowling."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Writing their names on the control board once more, Allison set up the game. This time they decided against teams and to just play against each other, claiming that Five just needed to play a game to get his blood pressure down. Five had rolled his eyes, he didn't need to play a silly game, what he needed was a very strong shot of vodka.

Part of his mind still couldn't believe he was surrounded by pubescent, tiny versions of his siblings.

In his anger, he barely noticed Vanya walk up to his booth to sit beside him.

"Thank you for earlier."

Five turned his attention from the bowling lane and looked at her. He noticed the awkward, shocked way she was looking at him as if she hadn't expected him or anyone to stand up for her. It made him realize that he didn't stand up for her before either. While he didn't treat her like the others, he didn't stop the others from excluding her mostly because he was an idiot who didn't notice. He used to think that she just didn't want to be around them, not the other way around.

"Don't worry about it," he smirked, feeling slightly overprotective over his little sister.

Vanya looked at him confused as if she didn't understand his actions. This family really has done a number on her, haven't they?

"But-"

"You're our sister right?" He interrupted her. He didn't want to hear any apologies or gratefulness. What was there to be grateful for? He was just doing what a brother should do in the first place, nothing monumental.

Vanya frowned but then nodded.

"Then as your brother, it's my responsibility to have your back," he gestured at the others who were too busy playing to listen to them. "That's what those asshats don't understand."

Being the most well mannered out of all of them, Vanya flinched ever so slightly every time she heard a swear word, much like she just did now. No one used to notice how uncomfortable swearing used to make her. She's only a thirteen-year old that has been excluded from the rest of the world and so isn't used to such vulgar language yet. Still, it surprised him that he could still decipher her unique body language and quirks, it actually made him a little uncomfortable, not at himself, but at his younger self.

No one knew, but when he was thirteen he used to have a bit of a childish crush on her. He had never done or said anything, but it still made him cringe how he would give her sideways glances when he knew she wasn't looking. Of course, that was definitely not the case anymore. He may be physically thirteen, but mentally he's a lot older. His silly, childhood crush was something he quickly grew out of, not to mention Dolores. But even then, he had satisfied his curiosity with other women while in the commission. The point was if ever there was a chance in the past, it was too little too late. Vanya's his sister, that's what she'll always be.

Vanya genuinely smiled and turned her attention back to the bowling lane.

After they ended the game, with Diego winning and shoving it all over Luther's face, they all sat on one of the booths near the walls. They ordered from a menu which only had either burger or pizza as the options, making him grit his teeth. While his thirteen-year-old body seemed to crave junk food, he still very much preferred more refined foods.

Biting back his disgust, and frustration, he ordered a plain old veggie pizza. The others however ordered the most greasy, unhealthiest items on the menu. He didn't blame them, their diets in the academy consisted of the healthiest recipes a group of teenage superheroes could need. They only ever got to eat junk food whenever they sneaked out of the house, so they always took the opportunity to stuff themselves with the most unhealthy foods they could get their hands on.

While they ate they engaged in conversation, a few of them speaking between bites. At one point the conversation turned to who was the most powerful out of them all. After a little argument, and discussion they all had to agree Allison's power was the most useful in a hostile situation.

"Ok, Allison maybe the crème de la crème in our missions, but in a one on one fight between us who would actually win?" Asked Klaus.

Luther took a sip of his soda and looked at Klaus.

"We're a team Klaus, we're not supposed to compete with one another." He put his soda down and looked at them all. "Remember what dad always says, never use your powers against each other."

Everyone nodded in agreement. It was after all their number one rule, one they all followed. To never use their powers against each other...well at least they tried.

For a few seconds, the table remained quiet, but as always, the peace couldn't last.

"Ok but if it did ha-happen I'm pretty sure it would be me," Diego said.

That instantly got a rise out of everyone who turned to look at Diego with amusement.

"And what exactly are you gonna do? Throw a knife at us?" Allison asked mockingly. "I can rumour you before you can so much as reach for one."

"Yea," Luther naturally jumped in to agree.

Allison leaned back on her seat and took a sip from her drink, looking at them with an air of superiority as she straightened her back and smirked.

"Which means that I would win."

Diego snorted.

"You can't even beat Five in training, he always gets behind you before you can so much as say a word," Diego huffed, less trying to help Five and more trying to make a comeback. Still, Five noticed the underlying insult.

Leaning forward on his seat, Five rested his elbows on the table.

"You can't even beat Five?" Five asked, pulled into the childish conversation. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Diego shrugged.

"I mean, sure your special jumps are cool and all but that's just it, it's a neat trick, but then what? Scare the enemy to death?"

Five clenched his jaw and scowled at his brother. He knew he was better than being pulled into some stupid argument about powers, yet couldn't help but fall into the pitfall.

"Come on, we all know you don't have it in you to kill," Diego waved him away.

Glaring at Diego, he wanted to show him how indifferent he was in taking a life now. Sure when he was a kid that hadn't been the case. It's not that he couldn't kill it's just that he rather not. He wasn't like Diego who aimed to kill whenever they were on a mission. Now, however, he has far more blood on his hands than his brother could ever possibly have. It made him realize how much things have changed. Time really does change everything.

"Hey," Klaus raised his hand, getting everyone's attention. "How about me?"

"Shut up Klaus!" They all said in unison.

Klaus didn't take it the wrong way as he shrugged.

"Maybe it's for the better, I'm a lover not a fighter after all." He rested his head on the backrest. "Y'all can keep comparing sizes."

"Hey!" Allison growled disgustedly.

Klaus simply smiled and shrugged.

The argument continued each one saying how they're the strongest one, going around and around in circles.

"Come on, I can restrain all of you in one go!" Ben huffed.

"Yea and I would rumour you to let us go!"

On and on they went, not realizing how easy it was to just slip into the argument as if forty-five years hadn't gone by since he last argued with them. He kept telling himself that he was just engaging them because he had to stand up for himself, unable to let the others think he's some weakling. Besides, he already knew who would win in a fight between the seven of them, had even seen it with his own two eyes.

If it came down to it again, Vanya would win and she wouldn't even have to try very hard. Hell, she didn't even know how to fully control her abilities and she still managed to beat them all with a wave of her violin bow, and that's the future versions of them, the ones that are slightly better at controlling their powers. The gap between her and them was incredibly wide, so much so that he had felt genuine fear when they had faced her, something he'd never felt before. Of course, none of them knew about Vanya having powers, much less her so it's not like he could say anything.

Thinking about Vanya, it brought him back to the biggest question he'd had since he arrived on this timeline. What on earth was he going to do about her? Like it or not, Vanya is the one responsible for the apocalypse. His logical mind told him that the easiest, most efficient thing to do was to simply kill her. After all, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, a notion his father seemed to agree with when he, more or less, took her powers from her.

He hardly agreed with their dad's fatherly skills, but couldn't help but agree that keeping Vanya's powers a secret was the most logical thing to do. Sure confining her, making her think she's ordinary and excluding her from everything as well as drugging her was a hard line he crossed, but keeping her ability a secret for the safety of everyone was not. How was one supposed to control a child, who has the power to end all life on earth when she had a tantrum?

So yes, he found himself agreeing with sir Reginald but that didn't mean he was going to let things go on the way they are, not when he knows what the price for keeping her powers a secret are. Secrets, no matter how much one hides them, they are rarely ever permanent. Which means that killing would be the easiest alternative.

Five looked at Vanya. She was sitting across from him, laughing at Klaus who had put two straws inside his nose and rolled his eyes. Looking at their brother, Diego hit Klaus upside the head, causing him to lurch forward and expel the straws out of his nose and onto the wall. Around the booth, everyone laughed.

Five felt the corner of his lips pull up into a genuine half-smile of amusement, and fondness for his siblings, something he quickly wiped from his face before anyone could notice.

He could do many things, kill and torture innocent people, but he couldn't kill his own family. Hurt? Yes, kill? No.

Even if he had no other choice, he suspected that he still wouldn't be able to do it, especially when it's not Vanya's fault. They had forced her down that path, all of them. If he had to blame someone for the apocalypse, then he had to look inwardly and at his other siblings. In the end, they were all very much responsible for the apocalypse.

No, he had to find another way to prevent the apocalypse, a way in which he can keep his family intact.

Leaning back on his seat, Five grabbed his drink and rested his head back on the backrest. When he caught something flying in his peripheral vision, he heard a small thump with a clinking sound, he looked to the side, his eyes widening when he noticed the object.

A flash grenade was resting no more than three feet from where they were sitting.

* * *

Despite everything, Vanya felt she was having a good time. It's been a while since her siblings had taken her along to one of their excursions, and she suspected they had intended to leave her behind this time as well. However, when she heard that they were going to get Five to come along, she was adamant about coming too.

Given the previous events during that very same day, she was beyond worried about Five. From what she got from him when they had barged into his room was that he had time travelled, no surprise there, but more importantly, that he had gone to the future and didn't exactly like what he saw. Both of these discoveries were shocking but in the end, they didn't tell any of them much, didn't completely reveal Five's strange behaviour. She could see it in the way he would get that far away look in his eyes like he was looking far off into some distant future, not exactly present in the moment. There was also that strange way he seemed to carry himself, the difference in the way he spoke, and she wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Does anyone else notice Five's...different?" Ben had asked them after they had left their brother's room.

"We-well he's s-still the same cocky as-asshole he's always been, I-I don't see much difference there," Diego had grumbled.

"Different how?" Allison had asked.

"I don't know, just different."

Being called back to their studies, they left the conversation at that.

That night her siblings didn't have any training to attend seeing as it is a Friday, which made it the perfect day to sneak out of the house and go to Super Star lanes, and get Five to open up to them, something that had been her plan.

With a smile she had watched with amusement as Diego fumed at Klaus's bowling incompetence, meanwhile Ben acted as the mediator.

Yes, she was having a good time despite the aloofness and boredom Five was channelling at the entire situation. However, that happiness soon changed to anxiety and awkwardness when those fans approached them.

Being the sister of six very popular, famous superhero kids she was long used to all the attention they seemed to exude and attract. This wasn' the first time she had to stand around, awkwardly as fans more or less surrounded them when they realized who they were. However, this was the first time any of the attention was put on her.

After Five called the fans out for having ignored her, something he'd never done before, she felt incredibly uncomfortable to be put in the centre of attention. Not used to it, she wanted to quickly get out of the limelight, especially with the spike in tension around the group. Still, she was thankful for Five for coming to her aid, even if she still felt a little shaken afterwards, especially by what Luther said.

She knew the tallest of her siblings hadn't meant to hurt her feelings, but that still hurt a little.

With the spike in anxiety, she remembered how she hasn't been taking her pills regularly, having missed taking one today. She was generally good at remembering to take them, so much so that mom had stopped reminding her, but due to her concern with Five, her mind has been too occupied to remember.

Reaching inside her sweater pocket for her pills, only to find them empty, did she realize that she had forgotten them at home.

Cursing herself, she tried her best to remain calm even though she felt her anxiety rise up ever so slightly. Thanks to Klaus's humour, as well as the decrees in tension between them all as they, especially after noticing how Five finally became engaged in the conversation, she felt herself calm down. That is until the loud bang, followed by a blinding light.

Vanya grit her teeth, covering her head with her arms as she fell back on somebody.

Heart pumping, vision blurry, with large white spots, ears ringing, fear escalating she tried to make out what was happening around her. She watched, almost as if in slow motion as people jumped for cover, vaguely being able to make out the sound of screaming and overall chaos as bullets began to rain down on them.

The set of arms that were wrapped around her securely, something she hadn't noticed until now, started to shake her on the spot, causing her shock riddled mind to set itself back together once more.

"Vanya!" She heard the muffled sound of her name, her ears still painfully ringing.

Looking up she met Ben's worried eyes, he had no doubt had been the first one to pull her out of harm's way seeing as he had been sitting right beside her.

"I-I-" she looked around, a little confused. When had they moved from the booth to crouching under the table?

Around them, her siblings were crouching down, taking cover under the table, but unlike her who was at a state of panic, they were trying to poke their heads from under the table to try to make out the shooters, cursing as bullets nearly missed them.

Five, who was crouching in front of her, had his back to her, more or less making a shield with his body for her and Ben.

"I-I'm alright," she whispered.

She wasn't sure if Ben heard her, but he simply nodded but kept his hands around her for protection. She felt like some damsel in distress, being the one panicking while her siblings weren't at all affected, quite the opposite. But she couldn't help it, her heart was pumping in her chest at a remarkable speed, her breath coming uneven, as she felt a full-blown panic attack on the way.

Bullets flew above them, some hitting the top of the table.

Vanya covered her head and shrieked. Ben's hold on her tightened and he tucked her under his chin, practically covering her entire body.

When the bullets wouldn't stop coming shooting their way. Luther turned to look at them, anger and worry clear on his face, his eyes meeting her's

Letting out a growl, Luther turned and pressed his hands flat against the table and pushed.

"Aghhh!" Luther growled.

She watched with shock as the veins on his neck stood out from exertion, his face reddening as he pushed the bolted-down table from the floor and placed it on the backrest facing their assailants, providing them more cover.

Following Luther's example, Vanya grit her teeth and placed her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice.

"I heard a rumour, that you all stopped shooting at us!" She screamed over the sound of bullets and people screaming.

For a second Vanya thought her sister had done it, a feeling of relief overcoming her until she realized that the shooter's hadn't stopped.

Allison frowned.

"Why aren't they stopping?" She asked, shocked, a hint of fear slipping through her voice.

Five pressed his back against the booth, dodging a set of bullets. Vanya's heart nearly stopped.

"They must be wearing noise-cancelling headsets," Five shouted over the chaos.

Allison blinked, she clearly had never thought such a thing would work against her powers, truthfully, none of them thought about it either.

"What? But how can they-"

"Wh-who the h-hell cares!" Diego growled, taking a knife he had tucked inside his pant pocket.

Looking over the booth, he pulled his arm back to throw it when Luther grabbed him by his shirt and yanked him down.

"Are you insane!" Number one shouted. "You can't see a thing in this smoke, you might hit someone!"

Luther was right, whatever that bomb was, the shooters had thrown several others that discharged thick white smoke, covering the entire bowling alley until they couldn't see a thing, just the occasional flashes of guns being fired.

"Well then what do you suggest, _number one?!"_ Diego's grip on his knife tightened. "That we stay here until they kill us all!"

Luther's lips thinned, his eyes looked around them, as if trying to come up with a plan. After a few seconds, he gestured for them to lean a little closer.

"All right I got it." The members of the umbrella academy leaned forward, paying complete attention to Luther.

Luther pointed a finger at Five.

"Five, I need you to jump behind the counter." Luther pointed to the counter behind their booth, a vantage point closer to the shooters. "I want you to see how many of them there are, and their locations, then come back and let us know."

Vanya and the rest watched Five as his jaw clenched, his usual cocky smile gone as he seemed to decide whether to follow Luther's orders or not. On the other hand, Vanya felt her heart begin to drum even more than it already was.

Luther wanted five to get closer to the shooters? All on his own? And with no vision? She had seen a few of their missions from afar, standing beside their father and they would sometimes tell her about them after they returned. In all those times, she never once thought about the dangers, of what her siblings were walking into. She always assumed it was just a walk in the park, after all, what could ordinary people do to her extraordinary siblings? It was silly, but she never once thought of the dangers, and now that she was in the thick of it, she realized how silly she was for envying them. This was a nightmare, truly was, and she didn't want to let Five go into it alone.

Separating herself from Ben, she reached for Five's wrist, eyes wide and full of fear.

Head snapping back at her, his brows softened as he took in her state. Suddenly his expression hardened, he slipped his wrist out of her hold with little difficulty.

"It's alright Vanya, everything's going to be alright," he assured her.

Before she could say anything, Five disappeared and she felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Bullets continued to fly above them, creating a large hole on the table Luther placed on top of the backrest for cover.

As they waited, Ben held her closer, making sure to hold her tightly by the arms in case she got any crazy ideas. As the time ticked by, Vanya's breath became more and more rapid. Why hadn't Five come back? He should have already come back. He's been gone too long!

When the others seemed to realize that a long time had gone by since Five left, Luther turned to look at them, a look of genuine worry in his eyes.

"I think Five might have-"

Before he could finish, the hail of bullets suddenly stopped.

Frowning, they rose up and poked their heads over the booth. There was still a thick wall of smoke covering most of the view, but as she peered through it she could make out a few faint flashes.

There were four men, at least she could only make out four of them. They were wearing some sort of strange suits, on their head, they had what appeared to be gas masks, the glass covering their eyes a bright red. They all held machine guns, machine guns that had been pointed at them but were now pointed at something behind them, something-

When she noticed who it was they had been pointing their guns at, her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Five was standing in front of them, blood running down a split lip no doubt from a punch.

"FIVE!" She screamed when one of the men pulled the trigger, her heart nearly flying out of her chest.

She could barely see a thing, but she did manage to see the familiar flash of blue as Five spatial jumped from the bullet's trajectory. She couldn't see where Five had gone, but when one of the men fell to the floor, followed by two others, she suspected he had been responsible for it.

One last man standing, the man raised his gun, pointing it from side to side with panic. When the man turned once more, out of the blue, Five appeared right behind him, a broken pool stick covered in blood in his hand. Before the man could notice, Five jumped on his back and jammed the sharp end of the pool stick inside the man's neck.

Vanya felt vile rise up from her stomach.

The man gurgled out blood, his hands going to his neck that had a pool stick right through it, and fell down with a thump.

The bowling alley went eerily quiet.

All six of them looked over the booth, their eyes wide as they remained frozen on the spot.

"What the hell?" Diego broke the silence, sounding genuinely shocked.

The drumming inside her chest began to slow down as fear slowly began to dissipate, overtaken instead by shock.

How? Where? Did Five just? Before her mind could catch up with what she'd just witness, she realized Five was still missing.

Fear returning, she separated herself from Ben prompting the others to look at her.

"Where's Five?" She asked.

When no one answered, she turned and ran to the spot she had last seen him.

* * *

Taking a sip from his scotch, Reginald Hargreeves took a deep breath and continued to write in his book.

The academy was quiet, no sounds of children laughing, or arguing, no sound at all in fact, just like he liked it. So when a soft click of the door opening reached his ears, his hand froze and his eyes snapped up from his book.

Slowly the door parted open. There was only one light in the entire room, but he could still make out number Five's silhouette in the dark.

Eyes narrowing, jaw clenching, his grip on his pen tightening, Reginald looked at the boy.

"Number Five," He barked the name. "What is the meani-"

Reginald suddenly stopped when he saw the state of number Five.

Making his way closer towards his desk, Five became clearer and clearer.

Hair dishevelled, uniform torn, blood covering most of it as well as his face and hands, arm resting limply against his side, lip split and covered in dry blood, bruises covering his face, Five limped his way closer to him.

More confused than anything, Reginald looked up at number Five who now stood in front of his desk, his eyes set on his.

Taking his glass of scotch, number Five drank it all with one swing. Giving out a satisfied sigh, Five gently put the glass down on the desk and looked at him once more, eyes examining his for a couple of seconds before he answered.

"We need to talk."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Conversation between Five and Reginald incoming!
> 
> So, as you may have noticed, there's a different story between Vanya and Five as to how Five stands up for her. I just wanted to point out that this is deliberate, given the difference between the two, the both see situations very differently. Clearly Five doesn't feel like he's done enough for Vanya, while Vanya thinks otherwise.
> 
> Also, yes, Five sees Vanya as a silly little girl but can you blame him? This is why Vanya has a lot of growing and maturing to do before they can stand as equals.
> 
> So I want to thank everyone for their continued support, I really do love reading back from you all!
> 
> So please do keep the comments coming!


	5. Father and son

There was an awkward, tense silence in the office as Five sat on the chair, he'd often find himself in when he was young, meeting his father's eyes. It was amusing how nostalgic he felt, minus of course all the physical pain he felt at that very moment.

When the flash grenade had gone off, he instantly knew it was the commission. He wasn't at all surprised, he had been wondering when they'd finally find him. It's been a month already, it made him wonder if the commission was just getting slow or they were planning something. Regardless, when the commission task force opened fire on them, he knew exactly what he needed to do...that is after a slight hesitation.

For a second he had nearly followed Luther's order to take down the shooters as a team, until he looked at them and realized how young they all were. He knew he couldn't drag them into that mess.

Taking matters into his own hands, he spatial jumped behind the commission task force. He managed to kill two before the others realized what was going on.

Going up against ten heavily armed and trained killers all on his own, he had some difficulty despite the element of surprise the smoke granted him. With one kicking him on the abdomen, breaking at least two of his ribs, another punching him in the face, splitting his lip, and another managing to shoot him in the shoulder, he did not have an easy time taking them down. Of course, he got payback by snapping their necks with his foot, unable to use his hands seeing as his arm is now useless.

He was a mess, he felt like a mess. He had caked blood in his hair, making his scalp itchy. His shirt was splattered with blood, as well as his hands and face. He seriously needed a shower, stitches, and some sleep but that would have to wait for now.

Five grabbed a tissue from the elegant box on the desk and started to wipe the blood from his hands, having little success seeing as most of it was already dry.

"As I'm sure you're aware, I am not number Five," tilting his head, he decided to elaborate lest his father take him for some spy. "Well, at least not the Five you know."

Five looked up from his hands and looked at his father, wanting to see his reaction before he continued. When he saw that his father's eyes were devoid of any emotions, not giving anything away, he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing but he decided to continue.

"That day I left the academy, I managed to time travel seventeen years into the future and got myself stuck in a post-apocalyptic world," he said, crumbling the tissue in his hand. "I survived on my own for fifty years, until an organization that specializes in overseeing and managing the space-time continuum called the Temps commission recruited me."

He saw a flash of memories of his time at the commission at the back of his mind. Him killing, torturing innocent individual after innocent individual. He felt indifferent about the whole thing, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it either.

"I worked for them until I decided to break my contract and travelled to the past to prevent the end of the world."

He decided to let out his time in two thousand nineteen, his father didn't need to know that he had already failed to prevent the apocalypse once. He also didn't say anything about Vanya's role in it either. He decided that for now, his father didn't need to know about Vanya, not until he knew it was safe enough.

"Which brings me here," Five leaned forward wincing a little in pain from the broken rib he no doubt had. "The commission, my former employers, they've found me. I thought I could do this alone, but it seems I was wrong."

Five looked him in the eyes, the same judging eyes he used to see whenever he closed his eyes. The words, I told you so, playing over and over in his head like a recording.

He had hated his father as a boy, more so than any of his siblings at the time, and the only one who outwardly showed it. He thought he was just an asshole who treated them like his own personal arsenal of weapons to use and polish as he pleased. And while that may still be somewhat true, he has come to realize that his father wasn't the complete asshole he thought he was. Every warning, every scolding, every command, every broken bone in training, it was all for their own good. Sure, he could have taken a different approach, but in the end, the results would have been the same. That's something he hadn't understood until now.

Five sighed.

"I know I gave you a hard time as a kid," his lips thinned. "I didn't know any better."

' _To hell with dad! He's always holding us all back, and for what?'_ he remembered telling Vanya a day before he got stuck in the future, angry words from a foolish boy. If only he had listened, if only he hadn't been so arrogant.

Five's shoulders tensed as he prepared for what he was going to ask. He still wasn't sure if it was the right decision, but one thing was for sure, he couldn't do this alone.

"This world ends in seventeen years if we don't manage to do something about it," Five frowned. "And I got nobody else backing me up. I can't rely on the others, they're just kids. You're the only one I can trust."

The office fell silent for what felt like hours as his father kept looking down at him with the same, judging, cold eyes of his, not showing any other emotion.

Five's jaw clenched, anxiety boiling deep in his stomach, something he rarely ever felt. He wanted his father to snap, to accept what he'd just said, to claim he's gone insane, anything as long as he wasn't sitting there all calm looking down at him like he was still thirteen years old.

Finally, his father took a deep breath and spoke.

"Being at loss for words is never something I ever thought I would experience. But at this very moment, it seems I am indeed at a loss for words."

Five's brows flew up, could it be that he had finally managed to shock the old man? Did he do something he hadn't expected?

Reginald's expression morphed into a disappointed scowl.

"I cannot begin to express how very disappointed I am in you number Five."

Five's brows sunk.

Oh.

"Despite your old age, number Five, it seems you're still very much the same, arrogant, brash, conceited child that you were in your youth."

It took him awhile to process what he just said, but when he did his nose flared as anger rose up inside him.

He just told him the world is ending and all he had to say on the matter is how disappointed he was of him? He shouldn't even be surprised!

Biting his tongue, Five stopped himself from calling his father a fucking hypocrite. The only reason for not saying it was because he'd be proving his point if he did. There was also that voice at the back of his mind that told him that his father was right, that it was indeed arrogance that put him in this predicament.

Reginald raised his chin.

"What have I told you time and time again?" He asked, straightening in his seat. "That only collectively can you truly succeed."

Five cocked his head, his brows pulling together in a frown.

His father crossed his arms and leaned back on his seat.

"This may be a danger your siblings are ill-prepared for at the moment, but it is a danger you must all face together."

For a few seconds, Five's mind had to rewire itself as he looked at his father in confusion.

Wait, he was actually mad about that? Out of everything he just told him, the one thing he took out of it was his inability to work as a team? Was he serious?

"I just told you the world is ending in seventeen years, that I am a fifty-eight-year-old man stuck in a body of a thirteen year old who has assassins after him and all you got out-"

"Number Five," he interrupted, his voice commanding.

Five pressed his lips together.

Reginald scoffed.

"I heard everything you said, but the only thing I found at fault with it was your refusal to accept help from your fellow teammates."

Five gaped, both surprised and indignant.

"This is the reason why your number Five," Reginald gestured with his hand. "You have the raw intelligence, the resourcefulness, and determination to be a leader and yet you throw it all away because you cannot bring yourself to work as a team."

Five snorted, he didn't have time for this.

"Look, I don't care about a silly number or my damn place in the umbrella academy ok!" He hissed. "Sure, I would love to grab the others' hands and happily waltz into battle as a team, but this is too much for them. I already lead them to danger before, I can't d-"

"Before?" Reginald quirked a brow.

Five pressed his lips together.

Damn.

Sighing, he explained.

"This isn't the first time I time-travelled to the past, last time I managed to arrive in the future just a week before the apocalypse," he revealed, knowing that there was no point in keeping it from him now. "In that timeline, I had the entire umbrella academy backing me up, and yet the apocalypse still happened."

He remembered the look of hope, of trust they had in him before he had jumped through the time portal. All for nothing because he still managed to fuck up that timeline, and now here he was wasting his time explaining himself to his father.

He leaned back on his chair.

"So don't tell me that by accepting their help I might be able to stop it this time."

For a long while, they both simply continued to glare at each other, upon looking at them an outsider might remark how very much alike they looked.

A knock coming from the door, Reginald looked up and Five turned on his chair.

Opening the door, Pogo stood behind it. For a brief second his eyes landed on Five, confusion and concern flashed behind his eyes, but then Pogo's switched to his master.

"I am sorry for interrupting you master Hargreeves but I just received a call from the police…" Pogo frowned. "It's the children."

Turning his eyes from Pogo, Reginald looked down at Five who was scratching the back of his head. He had completely forgotten about that shoot out.

Eyes going from him and back to Pogo, his father gestured for Pogo to continue.

"A shootout was reported from a local bowling alley they had sneaked to."

Five cringed somewhat when he saw the fury behind his father's eyes.

Nose flaring, brows knitting together, jaw clenching, Reginald fumed.

"Were there any injuries?"

"There were a few civilian casualties, but the police assured me the children are fine and well."

Five watched his father as he almost seemed disappointed by the news.

"That's unfortunate, injuries would have taught those foolish children a hard-earned lesson."

Five raised a brow but he wasn't at all surprised. He remembered his father often telling them how injuries were the price for their mistakes.

"Send the chauffeur to pick them up," Reginald commanded. "Once they arrive I will have a word with all of them."

Pogo nodded, by the look of his face he was worried for the others. Closing the door, Five was left alone with his father who kept his eyes on the door for a little while, anger clear in his eyes before he finally looked down at him once more.

"I assume this, _temps commission_ was the one responsible for the shootout?"

Five nodded.

Reginald exhaled, clearly not happy but he didn't ask for further clarification on the matter, instead he changed the conversation entirely.

"Do you know what causes the apocalypse?"

It took Five a few seconds to re-gather himself by the complete twist in conversation. His mind was working in overdrive as he thought about what to tell him, and what he should keep a secret.

"A man called Leonard Peabody," he said, opting not to give him the actual name, much less the name of the actual culprit, Vanya.

For a few seconds Reginald regarded him, he clearly knew that he was keeping something from him. But just as he had done a month ago, his father didn't say anything.

"And this Peabody, he-"

"I already have something in mind for him, don't worry about it," he said a little too sharply, briefly realizing that this was the first time he had interrupted his father.

Reginald decided not to call him out on it, instead he gave him a skeptical look. For a long silent moment, they both looked at each other until his father decided to break the silence.

"You're not a child anymore number Five, but I feel compelled to warn you…" his father leaned back on his chair, lifting his chin. "Whatever you do outside the Umbrella academy is your responsibility. Act by your own discretion, but know that I nor anyone else will come to your aid if you do, is that understood?"

Five clenched his jaw.

"Understood."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always found it interesting how very alike Five and Reginald are, which is something I'm going for here.
> 
> anyways, I'm surprised I made such a quick update, but then again this was a short chapter so why not.
> 
> As always, thank you all for your continued support, I really do love it when people comment and let me know how they're liking the story! it really does keep me writing.


	6. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come on, there's to way a thirteen year old kid can walk out of something like that and not suffer from ptsd.
> 
> anyways, thank you guys for commenting and just staying on this story, I'm really glad you're liking it!

Vanya looked from side to side in desperation as she looked for Five. She tried her best not to look at the dead bodies of the shooters, but every time she so much as looked at them for a second she nearly lost the contents in her stomach. The only reason she managed to keep the bile at bay was thanks to the determination to find her brother.

She looked under the tables, behind the counters, everywhere but Five was nowhere to be seen. Frantic panic began to rise inside her, made worse by the fact that she hadn't taken her pill.

Gripping her hair, she started to hyperventilate both due to her missing brother and the entire situation.

Diego, who had been close to her, noticed her state of panic and approached her.

Giving out an exasperated huff, he grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her on the spot.

"H-hey Vanya! Co-come on snap out of it!" He growled, clearly annoyed by her weakness.

Diego's insistent shaking didn't help her calm down, but it did help with focusing.

Eyes on him, he finally stopped shaking her.

"We do-don't have tim-time for you t-t-to have an epi-episode!" He huffed. Vanya blinked a couple of times.

Diego pointed to a corner of the bowling alley that had been left untouched by the bullets.

"Go sta-stand over there, an-and ge-get out of our way!"

His words stung, but he didn't give her time to argue with him as he shook his head in disbelief and turned on the spot. A part of her understood his reaction, but another part was confused and angry as to why none of them seemed to be at all worried about Five, who had saved their lives.

"What about Five?" She asked with a whisper.

Diego didn't seem to listen as he walked away, but then he grumbled.

"If hi-his body is not h-he-here, then he should be fine. H-he must have le-left to avoid ge-ge-getting in trouble."

Vanya's shoulders slumped and didn't ask further as she walked to the corner Diego had pointed to. She kept telling herself that Diego was right, that if something had happened to him, his body would be among the dead. The fact that he was nowhere to be seen meant that he had somehow managed to get away, but where? She had no idea. It wasn't like Five to just leave, especially after something like this.

More and more she was starting to get the feeling that she didn't know him anymore, that he had changed.

Sitting on the ground, she hugged her knees to her chest. Her mind was still in too much shock to come to grips to what she'd just witnessed, nor did she want to start unpackaging it all so she settled with looking at her siblings, doing her best not to look at the bodies on the floor.

The first person she spotted was Ben. He was crouched down in front of a turned over table. A little girl, no more than four was hiding beside it, the body of what she guessed was her mother laid beside her, blood pooled around them.

Vanya felt like someone had a hand on her throat, her eyes watering, so she quickly shut her eyes and looked elsewhere before she had another episode.

Eyes landing on Luther, she watched as he carried a kid in his arms. The kid had his face pressed against his chest, clinging to him with a vice-like grip. Her brother's face was set into a firm expression of determination, nowhere did she see any shock or fear in him.

Turning her eyes away from him, she looked at the others to see their reactions. She quickly found that, much like Luther and Ben, they were busy helping others.

Klaus seemed a little twitchy as he spoke into the air, where she suspected the ghosts of those that just died were standing.

Allison was walking from family to family, rumouring them to calm down.

Even Diego was doing something. Currently, he was busy moving the bodies of the shooters to the side, something she suspected he shouldn't be doing seeing as it might hinder any investigations, but no one stopped him. Not to mention that it seemed to help the shocked civilians to calm down a bit.

Looking at her siblings, putting away whatever shock they might have if they had it, that is, and setting their attention on helping those around them, mader her feel so useless. While they were doing whatever they could to help, she was crouched down on the corner like a little kid.

She squeezed her eyes shut and rested her forehead against her knees.

She thought that she wasn't part of the Umbrella academy due to her lack of powers, but it seems she was wrong. She wasn't part of it due to her clear weakness, her inability to pull it together and help others.

She wanted to, she wanted to stand up and help her siblings but her legs felt like jelly. Her body was shaking as a few sobs escaped her.

She was useless.

"Miss Vanya." A soft, familiar voice called.

Her head snapped up, eyes wide.

Pogo was standing in front of her, soft eyes trained on her.

Before she even knew it, she launched herself off the floor, and clung to him, burying her head on his chest.

Pogo didn't push her away as he sighed and patted her head.

"It's alright miss Vanya, you're safe now."

Leading her to the car, she waited inside as her siblings gave their reports to the police. After that was done, they were driven back to the academy.

The car was deathly silent the whole way, none of them saying a word or even meeting each other's eyes. Inside they were all mentally preparing for the scolding of a lifetime their father was no doubt about to give them.

Indeed, as soon as they set foot in the academy their father was waiting for them by the staircase, his posture imposing as he loomed over them.

After he expressed his disappointment in them all, as well as punishing them by doubling their training, study times and taking away all recreational hours, he barked at them to go to their rooms. All six of them more or less scuttled up the stairs, wanting to get out of their father's view lest they provoked his wrath once more.

On her way to her room, she noticed that Five's door to his room was open. As she walked past it she peered through the crack and noticed that he was lying on his bed, already asleep.

Relief flooded her, and oddly enough anger as well. Why did he leave them behind? Didn't he care how worried she was?

She wanted to go to his room to check up on him, but mom stood by the hallway, ensuring they all got back inside their rooms.

It seemed she had to wait until morning.

Sleep didn't come easy to her that night, jerking awake every couple of times, unable to shake off the memories of what transpired no more than a few hours ago.

With a frustrated sigh, she tried, again and again, to fall asleep until she was finally able to.

To her frustration, Five hadn't attended breakfast, nor study time. She had asked Pogo where their brother was, but he simply told them that Five suffered some injuries after the events of last night and was excused from study time and training until he got better. The other seemed to tense at the news that their brother had been hurt, but they didn't ask for further clarification.

During her homework hours, now spent in her room seeing as they weren't allowed to around each other, she looked at the newspaper she had managed to sneak out of the dining room during breakfast.

Bowling alley shootout, and the Umbrella academy's role in it.

Putting her homework aside, she read the article, instantly shocked by what she read.

The article began by questioning the Umbrella academy's involvement in the shootout. They were questioning as to why they were present at the Super Star. Everyone knew the Umbrella academy was never seen outside the enigmatic academy, so why were they at the bowling alley? The article asked. Then the article moved on to wild theories. Suggesting that the Umbrella academy was at the bowling alley for an undercover mission, which then brought up the question, why didn't they let the police know? Even worse, the article also suggested that they had lured the shooters there to have some tactical advantage, not caring about the lives they were putting in danger in the process.

On and on the article speculated on their involvement, all their fingers pointed straight at them. Not once did the journalist stop to think that perhaps seven teenagers had no other reason to be there than to just have fun.

Hearing a radio buzz, she looked up from the article and looked at her door.

"I've said it time and time again, we're giving away too much leeway to a group of snot-nosed brats wearing masks. I hope that after this incident the country will realize that. We don't need some kids playing _heroes_." She overheard from a radio, which seemed to be coming from Diego's room.

Another voice came from the radio.

"Heroes? Those kids are just freaks with powers, powers that can be used to do more damage than good. I say they sh-"

Before the man could finish, she heard a loud bang followed by an electric crackle as Diego no doubt threw one of his knives at the radio.

The whole house fell silent, all of them no doubt had also heard that.

Vanya turned to look back at the newspaper, her eyes catching on a picture of the outside of the Super Star lanes. The memory of all those bodies flashed in her head.

Shutting her eyes tightly closed, she looked at her homework instead, trying to distract herself with it. However, as she focused on the numbers she noticed her vision getting more and more blurry as she felt panic rise inside her.

This wasn't the first time today she's felt something like this. For the entire day, every time she closed her eyes she saw that child crouching by her mother's unmoving body, she saw all those dead bodies, she saw Five sinking the pool stick inside the shooter's neck.

Feeling bile rise up inside her once more, she clenched the edge of her desk and took in a deep breath.

She had to stop thinking about it, that's what she kept telling herself.

After having dinner she walked back to her room when she saw Pogo coming out of Five's room alongside mom.

For a few seconds, she just looked at them as she kept walking. She wanted to ask if she could go in to see Five but refrained herself from doing so. She doubted Pogo would let her.

Looking ahead of her, she kept on walking.

Days went by rather quickly, all her time taken up by studies and violin practice. Her siblings were equally busy, staying hours after hours in the training room or gym, exercising. Before, dad would let her attend their training. She wasn't allowed to participate, she just stood beside him and wrote down whatever he told her. However, in the last few days, dad hasn't even allowed her to do that, keeping her completely away from her brothers and sister. The only time she did get to see them was during breakfast, lunch and dinner, and since they weren't allowed to say a word during those times, she hadn't said a word in days. She felt completely excluded, more than ever before.

Her feeling of loneliness was made worse by her memories of the shootout.

At night she would wake up, her chest rising up and down as she went through a panic attack. During the day she would see flashes of bullets, and she could have sworn she even heard them at times. She thought she was going insane and she had no idea how to stop the memories, but if she didn't find a way then she feared she'll never have a good night's sleep ever again.

Not wanting to bother Pogo, much less go and ask dad, who she knew would scoff at her weakness, she took matters into her own hands

Ever since she can remember, she's been taking her pills once a day, usually in the morning after breakfast. However, thanks to her panic attacks at night she thought that maybe she should be taking more, to dull down her anxiety, the pills are for that after all. And so she began to take two pills a day. At first, it helped, it numbed her down, at least during the days, but at nights she still found herself waking up from a nightmare. It was maddening.

Keeping her head down, she walked down the hallway, passing by Five's room. As always, she turned to look at the door, seeing Pogo coming out of the room, a look of worry in his eyes.

Before she knew it, she switched trajectories, she walked to Pogo instead.

"Miss Vanya," he greeted, sounding a little surprised as he leaned on his walking stick.

"Pogo, hello." She looked at the closed door to Five's room then back at him. "I -er- was wondering if I could go in to see Five?"

Pogo looked at her over his half-moon glasses. She felt her hope sink as she knew he would say no. Pogo never did go against their father's orders.

"You heard what your father said, no spending time with any of your siblings."

Vanya lowered her eyes to the ground, her shoulders slumping. She knew he would say no.

"However." Vanya snapped her eyes back to his. "Given your brother's state, I think the presence of one of his siblings will do him some good."

"It's that bad?" She felt worry rise inside her.

Pogo sighed, his lips formed into a tight line but didn't say anything as he moved away from the door.

"You may go in to see him miss Vanya, but don't spend too long in there. We wouldn't' want your father finding out you disobeyed his orders."

With that Pogo walked away, disappearing around the corner. Vanya wasted no time in opening Five's room and slipping inside.

Seeing as his bed was right in front of the door, the first thing her eyes landed on was Five.

He was asleep on his bed, blankets reaching halfway up his torso. His arm was on a sling, resting above his chest, his shoulder heavily bandaged. Half of his face was covered in yellow, purple bruises, an angry cut upon his bottom lip. Under his eyes, he had dark bags that weren't there before.

Vanya's brows knitted together.

He looked terrible, more so than she had ever seen him.

Sitting on the empty chair beside his bed, she looked at him.

He looked so peaceful while he slept, despite the slight frown, it was nearly impossible to accept that she had seen him kill four men in such a brutal way that she was sure she was going to have nightmares about it for months. But it doesn't matter what he did, he's still Five, her brother, wasn't he?

She cocked her head, she looked at his hair, noticing that his bangs were slightly poking his eye.

Reaching out, with feathery light fingers, she pushed his bangs away from his eye.

"Vanya," he sighed.

Vanya froze.

Slowly, Five opened his eyes, having problems with opening the right one seeing as the side of it was swollen.

For a long, while they just looked at each other, Five looking from one side of her face to the other as if examining her.

"Are you alright?" He asked, frowning.

Vanya gaped, he was honestly asking her if she was alright? Him, who was bedridden with a broken arm? Besides, she was going to ask the exact same thing.

"Me? Of course I'm fine, why-"

"Vanya," he insisted, tilting his head and giving her a knowing look.

Closing her mouth, she looked at her hands. She wasn't doing so well, but she refused to make him worry for her, not when he should be worrying about himself.

"I'm alright, really." She looked up and gave him a reassuring smile.

He looked at her like he didn't believe but before she could ask again, she continued.

"How about you? You killed all those men, and got yourself..." she gestured at him, "Hurt. I should be the one asking you that."

Five raised a brow, noticing how she had changed the conversation to him.

"Well, let's just say it's nothing I'm not long used to already."

Five raised himself on his bed, wincing as he did. Vanya leaned forward to offer him some help but he raised his hand before she could. He always was too proud to accept any help.

Once his back was propped against the headboard, he looked at her again with those piercing, knowing eyes.

"You, on the other hand, well this is the first time you've been in a situation like that," he tilted his head down. "So don't tell me you're fine Vanya, you've always been a terrible liar."

Vanya chewed the inside of her cheek, and looked back down at her hands, feeling self-conscious that he caught her lie, but really, she shouldn't be surprised. Just like she could tell when he was lying, so could he.

"You shouldn't have to worry about me, not when you're in this state." She looked up, feeling her eyes sting from all the helplessness she'd been bottling up ever since the shootout.

She took a deep shaky breath to calm herself down.

"I'm not some weakl-" she snapped, but then stopped halfway through her sentence, unable to continue, not when Five was still giving her that knowing look.

Five didn't seem at all taken aback by her small outburst much less surprised, in fact, he seemed a little relieved.

"I didn't say you were, in fact, quite the opposite."

Vanya's eyes widened in surprise. Five gave her a reassuring tight smile before turning his attention to the window.

"Did anyone ever tell you what happened during our first mission with casualties?"

Vanya shook her head just as Five turned to look at her once more.

"Yea, well I'm not surprised." He smirked. "It's not exactly our proudest moment."

Intrigued, Vanya scooted forward on her seat. It wasn't often Five, or any of her siblings said anything about their mission, at least not to her. She would often hear them talk about them amongst themselves, gloating about a particular thing they did, or Luther telling them how they can do better on the next mission. Whenever she walked into one of those conversations, they would all stop talking and look at her with hostility. Sometimes she did manage to convince Five to tell her, but he would only give her the smallest details, arguing that he was just trying to protect her.

She never understood that, until she realized how bloody and frightening their missions are. Despite that, she was still interested.

"Dad desensitized us from violence and killing from a very young age by methodologically showing us how to take a life." Five shook his head. "What he didn't tell us was that killing bad guys is one thing, seeing innocent people die is entirely different, especially when you could have done something to prevent their deaths."

Five's lips thinned as he got that far away look in his eyes she had never seen on him before.

"After that mission, we all returned to the academy shaken. In fact, if I recall correctly, Luther didn't say more than a few words for an entire week," Five turned a little on his bed so he could see her better. "So don't tell me you're fine, not when I know you're not."

There was a long, tense moment of silence as Vanya opened and closed her mouth, unsure as to what to say. A hundred different emotions were going through her at once, the main one being fear, the fear she had felt while had been at the bowling alley seeing all those people dead, seeing her brother go up against all those men all alone.

Feeling a lonely tear slide down her cheek, her lips trembled.

"I was so scared Five," she sobbed softly, her fingers entwined tightly together. She looked down at them, unable to meet his eyes. "I felt useless, just sitting there, watching the others help while I couldn't even stand on my own two feet."

She shook her head and looked at the wall behind Five.

"I'm starting to realize that dad is right, I really don't belong in the Umbrella academy, not just because I don't have powers but because I'm just so useless, I-"

"Vanya," he interrupted once more.

Feeling his hand on top of hers, she snapped her eyes to his, shocked by what she saw. In his eyes, there wasn't any disgust, or mockery, quite the opposite. There was understanding.

"You're not useless. You're just a kid, a kid who got caught in the middle of a very difficult and dangerous situation, you can't blame yourself for being scared."

She sobbed.

"But I'm one of the seven! I should be better than that, powers or not, I-," she hiccuped.

Five gave her a tender smile.

"I don't know what dad or the others have been telling you, but powers don't automatically make someone brave." Five pointed at the door. "What we showed back there isn't bravery, it's choosing not to feel so we can keep functioning."

Vanya looked at him, unsure as to how to respond. She couldn't say she agreed with him, she still felt she should have done something but opted not to argue with him, so she decided to change the conversation.

Wiping her eyes, she pointed at his shoulder.

"What happened to your shoulder?" She asked.

Five quirked a brow, clearly amused by her change of conversation. Looking down at his shoulder, then back at her he answered.

"Just a scapula fracture, it'll heal in a couple of weeks."

She instantly knew he was lying, she could tell in the way the corner of his eye wrinkled ever so slightly.

"Really? Pogo made it sound like you've gone through much worse."

Five rolled his eyes no doubt a Pogo.

"It's just two broken ribs and a shoulder, it's hardly something to worry about," he huffed.

Again, she knew he was lying but didn't call him out on it, instead she smiled when she watched him pout. Opening her mouth she was about to speak when she heard a tap on the door and she froze.

Expecting their father to walk in and scold her, she stayed unmoving for a couple of seconds until she realized it must have been Pogo who knocked on the door.

Five sighed.

"I think it's best you leave before dad catches you out of your room."

Vanya nodded, deflating. She didn't want to leave.

Standing up, she looked down at him, she wanted to hug him but given his delicate state, she decided not to. Instead, she held onto his hand and clenched it softly before letting go, giving him a tender last smile and walked to the door.

She realized that she felt a lot better than she's had in days, almost as if a heavy load had been taken off her shoulders.

Before she opened the door, she turned and looked at him.

"Goodnight Five."

Five gave her a soft smile.

"Goodnight _seven_."

With that Vanya opened the door and left.


	7. Interview

To hell with his injuries, Pogo, Grace and his father. After having his meeting with Reginald, he had gone straight to the infirmary to get his injuries checked. Injuries to the shoulder can develop complications if not treated properly, so he'd rather get it checked than regret it later. What he hadn't expected was to be bedridden because of it.

When he went back to his room he had every intention of spending the remainder of the night planning his next move and trying to figure out the commission's next move. However, as soon as he sat on his bed, he was out like a light. Turns out that Pogo had given him a sleeping pill rather than a painkiller. At first, he was mad, but when he woke up fully rested he was thankful so he let it pass. However, when Pogo came to his room every time he tried to get out of bed, he became progressively more frustrated and angry. He didn't have time to stay in bed, not when the academy could be in danger.

On the second day of being bedridden, after getting angry at Pogo for treating him like some invalid, he spatial jumped to his closet when he doubled over from the pain. His chest felt like it was on fire due to his broken ribs.

Grudgingly, he allowed Pogo to carry him back to his bed to lie down.

For the remainder of the day, he glared at the ceiling, doing his best not to spontaneously combusting from anger.

On the fourth day, after a few painkillers, he felt well enough to prop himself against the headboard. He used his new position to write.

After he arrived on this timeline he had grabbed one of his old blank notebooks, a blue book with a leather binding, from his desk and wrote everything from calculations, thoughts, plans, to just overall documenting every change in the timeline since his arrival. For hours on end, he wrote in his notebook, barely stopping, even so much as going into late at night, deep in writing.

He wasn't one to disregard his health, especially sleep, the most essential element in keeping his mind sharp. However, lately, he's felt less and less inclined about sleeping.

In his time with the commission he was always bombarded with missions, never getting a moment of peace, to just sit and relax. He was, after all, the best assassin they had, every delicate mission was instantly handed over to him. Because of this he never really had a moment to just lie down and rest, to think. Even in the post-apocalyptic future he was constantly on his feet, searching for food, shelter, and just surviving overall. The last few days were in fact the idlest he's been in forty-five years, and that made him feel both uncomfortable and restless.

Having nothing better to do, his mind kept going back to the past, back to all those years spent on his own, breathing that bitter smell of smoke that made his lungs burn, of coming to the edge of starvation or dehydration, of nearly dying of hypothermia, of just doing his best to survive and then wondering why he was even trying? Often he'd wondered why he tried so hard to stay alive, nothing he did matter, he was alone and he was going to die alone, so why even try? It was those thoughts that scared him more than anything in his life, thoughts that came pouring back into his head.

Of course, he wasn't alone anymore, but the memories of those dark thoughts still uneased him. Thoughts that were made worse in his sleep.

He didn't wake up screaming or anything like that, he just woke up with a start, his heart beating harshly inside his chest. For long minutes he would lie there looking around his room, confused as to where he was, taking a long while to realize that he wasn't in the apocalyptic future.

At one point, while he was sleeping, Pogo had come into his room to check up on him. Five knew pogo was sent by his father to keep an eye on him, and no doubt figure out his next move. His father always did everything to stay well informed.

When Pogo had sat next to his chair, and reached to check on his stitches when he woke up and grabbed Pogo's neck with a vice-like grip. Thankfully he caught himself before he strangled him, realizing that it was just Pogo.

He had let go of Pogo and apologized.

Pogo assured him it was alright, that he should have woken him up first, but Five knew it was far from alright. That day, whatever Pogo had seen in his eyes worried him enough to come by every chance he got, trying to coax him to open up.

Five wasn't surprised his father had told Pogo everything about his time in the future, so when Pogo asked him about his time there, he simply just waved him away.

He wasn't about to sit there and talk about his trauma like some child, not to mention that he didn't want to talk about it.

On the sixth day stuck in his room, he had gone to sleep early that night after doing an all-nighter the night before due to a very realistic nightmare. That night, when Vanya had decided to come and visit him and woke him up he was relieved he didn't react the same way he had with Pogo. In fact, his mind somehow knew it was her before he fully woke up.

He was glad to see anyone that wasn't Pogo or Grace, but when he saw the blank, dull look in Vanya's eyes he instantly worried. At first, he was confused, thinking that their father must have done something to her, or their siblings but then he realized she was still in shock from what happened. He should have seen it coming, this had been the first time she's ever experienced something like this.

He was never one to get out of his way to help others, but at that very moment, he felt compelled to make sure Vanya was alright. Despite everything, she's still his sister, he didn't want her to bottle everything up, especially when her snapping could hurt those around her.

Far from the one who should be giving anyone advice, especially when it comes to trauma, he didn't think he would be of any help to her. But when she given him that genuine smile he knew he had at least helped her a bit. It would take some time to come to terms with what had happened, but he was certain she'd be able to in time.

Using one hand to tie his tie, seeing as his other arm was still on a sling, he had some difficulty, taking a lot longer than usual.

Once tied, he looked at himself in the mirror. The bruises on his face were a lot better now, more of a yellow in hue than an angry purple. He was wearing his uniform. Opting not to put on the sweater vest, not wanting to go through the hassle due to his arm, he just wore his shirt and jacket, his injured arm under it, not putting it inside the sleeve. It's been a week and a half since his injury, he felt a lot better but he still needed to keep the sling for another day or so. As for his ribs, thanks to Grace's advanced knowledge in treating injuries, they were partially healed, only hurting when he touched them. Usually, such an injury would take at least a month to heal, so he was thankful that wasn't the case. If he had to remain in his bed for another week he was sure he would lose it.

Exiting his room, he walked to the dining area.

The night before, Pogo had come to his room to tell him that today journalist from TIME's magazine was coming over to conduct an interview with all members of the Umbrella academy. This was done to heal their wounded reputation due to what happened at the bowling alley. As a boy, he would have been furious at the media for painting them in a bad light, but at that moment he couldn't care less. Still, his father insisted he attend, and since he had to keep his cover he agreed.

Standing beside the others, waiting to be called to breakfast, he ignored their stares and assured them he was alright when they asked. He had looked at Vanya, trying to see if she was doing better than before. When he noticed that the bags under her eyes were a lot lighter than before, he was appeased.

During breakfast, their father eyed him but didn't say anything.

After breakfast the six of them, Vanya going off to do her studies, waited outside the sitting room. Waiting to be interviewed.

It was far from the first time they've been interviewed, but Diego was still fidgeting, looking nervous.

"What qe-questions do yo-yo-you think she'll make?"

Ben shrugged.

"The usual, a bit about ourselves, our time in the academy, our relationship to one another, you know."

Diego nodded, but he still didn't seem at all sure.

"She'll probably ask about the incident in the bowling alley," Luther said, looking at them all. "If she does, remember what dad said. We were there celebrating our last mission, nothing more."

Klaus looked up from his hands.

"But that's exactly what happened, we were just there to have fun."

Luther looked at Klaus and nodded.

"Yea, but the media doesn't think that, so say it with conviction."

When the door opened, all his siblings tensed. Five however didn't even look up from the textbook he was reading.

"Alright, who'd like to go first?" A female voice with a British accent asked.

After a few seconds of silence, Allison sighed.

"I guess I'll go first."

The others relaxed a little, not wanting to go first.

"Lovely," the woman sang.

The door closed behind Allison and the others tensed once more as they waited.

Not taking more than a few minutes, Allison exited the room, after a match of Rock Paper Scissors between Diego and Klaus, Diego went inside, glaring daggers at Klaus.

On and on it went, sibling after sibling going in, until it was just him.

"Alright boyo, it's just you now" the woman sang.

Five sighed, put his book down and walked inside the room, never meeting the woman's face, or even looking at her, nor listening to her as she told him her name. He just wanted to get this over with.

Sitting on the sofa, he folded his legs and eyed the bar, wanting nothing more than to just grab a drink of anything.

Taking her seat in front of his view, obstructing his view of the bar, Five frowned as he was no longer able to ignore her.

As soon as his eyes landed on her, he knew something was off.

There was nothing remarkable about her physically. She was clearly of Indian descent given her complexion, and facial structure. She had shoulder-length raven hair, with bangs covering her forehead. For clothes, she dressed semi-formally wearing dress pants and a navy blue blouse. Appearance-wise, there was nothing strange about her, she looked like a regular journalist, it was her age that was off.

She was young, around the age of thirty, which to him was pretty young. But what he wondered was how, such a young woman landed a job as a TIME journalist, much less gained enough reputation to get their story. It wasn't impossible, of course not, but it was odd enough to be fishy.

Five stopped himself from frowning, not wanting to give anything away.

The journalist folded her legs and gave him what would have been interpreted as a wide, friendly smile but he knew it to be a wolffish, almost predatory smile.

"So, you're the illustrious Number Five?"

Five raised a brow, not answering. Instead, he kept looking for clues.

She gestured with her pen.

"Could you tell me a little bit about yourself?"

He barely looked at her as he quickly looked at her hands. It was only a quick look, but from what he saw, her hands are rugged, her skin dry, not what a normal journalist would have.

"What are your powers?" She switched the question when he didn't answer.

Five looked at her eyes, examining them. There was nothing odd about them, at least nothing overly odd so people like his simpleton could notice, but he could see it, the glint not unlike his own.

Five cocked his head and folded his arms. He knew exactly who she was.

"I can bend space around myself to instantly move from one spot to the other."

The woman tapped her pen against her knee.

"So, teleport?"

His brow twitched. He never liked to call his spatial jumps teleporting, it sounded too much like some comic book superpower, rather than a scientific miracle.

"In layman's terms yes."

The woman leaned forward on her seat, interested, or at least pretended to be, something he looked past.

"And how do you do this? Do you have to -"

"Cut the bullshit, I know you're with the commission," he cut her off. He had enough of this charade.

It was obvious she was a member of the commission, if not by the fact that she didn't look at all like a journalist, then by the glint in her eyes. He had been waiting for them to infiltrate his home, especially when he was injured.

The woman stopped tapping her pen against her knee and raised a brow, a little surprised but not at all taken aback by having her cover blown, she clearly knew who she was dealing with and expected him to realize something was off.

Chuckling, she lazily threw her small notebook across the room.

"Well thank god, I thought I would have to keep this stupid act going," She put her pen inside her pant pocket. "You know how much I wanted to stab one of those snot-nosed kids?"

Five smiled his usual predatory smile.

"I have a pretty good idea, yes."

His muscles were tense, ready for anything, the fact that she didn't seem at all hostile didn't make things better. Looking around the room he searched for the best, nearby weapon he could use if things turned sideways. Eyes landing on a small metal lion bust. It looked heavy enough to do the job.

He quickly turned his eyes back on her before she noticed what he was looking at. He may be injured, but he was certain he could kill her if she tried anything.

"So, what are you? Why did the commission send you here?"

Halfway through his question she rolled her eyes and looked down at her nails.

Five felt his eye twitch. Damn kid.

"Names Lila by the way," she smiled, looking up from her nails. "Kinda rude to jump straight to business before asking for a name, don't you think?"

Five leaned forward, giving her a full-blown smile that told anyone who knew him that he was very close to losing his patience.

"And I don't give a damn what your name is," he growled. "You're inside my home, are a possible danger to my family, so you better tell me what you're doing here before I come up with creative ways to beat the answer out of you."

The woman, Lila simply quirked a brow, not seeming at all threatened by him. It surprised him a little, but mostly it pissed him off. Being a member of the commission she must know who he was, and how stupid it was to provoke him. She must either be really new or she was too sure of herself, he was thinking the earlier.

The commission must really be going to shit if they're sending children after him.

Lila waved him away and smirked.

"Relax little man, I'm not here to hurt your little boy band…" Lila tilted her head. "And girl band."

Five found it interesting how the more she spoke the more he wanted to kill her.

Her smile fell, finally going straight to business.

"I'm just here to arrange a meeting, alright?"

Five smirked, meeting her eyes. As if he'd believe that the commission wanted to meet with him to _talk things over,_ especially after all the damage he caused. Sure thing.

"Is that so?" He drawled sarcastically.

She shrugged

"Don't believe me if you want boyo, but that is indeed so." She stood up.

Five eyed her, ready to jump if she did anything as she walked up to him. Reaching inside her pocket she took out a slip of paper and held it out to him.

"But hey, don't take my word for it."

Five raised a brow, he didn't trust her but he still leaned forward and took the paper from her. Looking down at it he read what was written on it with a bright red pen.

_To the distinguished professional in boy shorts._

Five scoffed and rolled his eyes, he knew it was from the Handler just by the overdramatic, stylish penmanship.

He knew she would come after him sooner or later. She may be a detached bitch, but she sure did hold a grudge. It didn't matter, he wasn't threatened by her. She may be good, but he's better.

"So if you're interested, come to that address at midnight tonight."

Lila pointed at the slip of paper and walked away.

Five flipped the slip of paper where an address was written, no doubt a warehouse.

Looking at her as she made her way to the door, he asked.

"Why would I come? So you can kill me?"

Lila stopped and tilted her head back so she was looking at him.

"To come up with an equal arrangement that doesn't involve killing both parties."

Five raised a brow. She chuckled and turned to look back at the door.

"See ya then little man."

* * *

When evening came, Five found himself walking through the streets in the middle of the night. Cursing himself under his breath.

After pacing up and down his room for what felt like hours, considering the cons and pros of going to see what the hell the Handler could want now, he finally decided to bite the bullet and just go. And besides, what could she possibly do.

Before leaving the academy he left a note on his desk in case he didn't make it back. On it were instructions for his father, telling him to find the notebook he hid under the floorboard. Inside it was everything that had caused the apocalypse and how to stop it, which mainly involved training Vanya and making sure she didn't become the bomb that blows up the moon. He didn't think the notebook would be necessary, but just to be sure...

When he reached his destination he looked down at the old, rusty warehouse then back at his slip of paper, confirming he was at the right place.

Seeing that he was, Five put the slip of paper back inside his coat pocket, his hand brushing the gun he was concealed there.

It was dark inside, the only source of light being the one turned on overhead light. Still, his eyes quickly landed on Lila who was standing right below it, her arms crossed, a smile on her lips.

She was no longer wearing her journalist costume, but rather a pair of black jeans and a black long sleeve shirt, looking more like the assassin she was.

"Knew you'd come."

Five met her eyes briefly, then he looked around the warehouse, taking note of all the windows, exits, and possible weapons. Turning his eyes back on her, her smile widened.

"Where's the Handler," he asked, going straight to business.

Lila didn't answer, instead she reached for something inside her jacket. Before she could so much as blink Five spatial jumped behind her, holding the gun to the back of her head.

"It's so good to see you haven't lost your edge after spending an entire month bedridden, Five," the Handler's sang, her voice echoing all around the warehouse.

Five kept his eyes on the back of Lila's head, cocking the gun.

"If you lured me here to kill me, I suggest you reconsider."

Not at all threatened even though she had a gun to her head, Lila snorted.

"What are you gonna do? g-"

"We're not here to kill you Five," the Handler interrupted, walking closer to where they were standing. "I think, by now, you should know me better than that. I would never lower myself to something so crude as luring you to your death."

Five snorted.

"There's nothing the commission wouldn't lower themselves to in order to succeed in a task. We both know that"

The Handler hummed in agreement.

"You're correct, but this isn't one of those times. So can we put the gun away and talk like civilized people?"

His grip tightened on his gun before he huffed and lowered it, but didn't put it away.

Turning to face the Handler, he spread his arms, as if to ask her, what now?

She hadn't changed much from last time he saw her, except of course for the change in hair colour which was now black, as well as the gunshot wound on her forehead. Shame, someone got the opportunity to shoot her in the head and it wasn't him.

"Five," she sighed, sounding like a long lost friend who just got reconciled with him. "Did you miss me, you little shit?" She gave him what she probably thought was a charming smile but it was anything but.

"You got a good nose, seeing through my little darling's façade."

The Handler took out a box of cigarettes with a lighter. Lighting it, she took a drag from it.

Five smirked.

"Let's cut through the pleasantries, shall we?"

The Handler puffed out a large cloud of smoke and gestured her hand in agreement.

"Alright then," she looked from him to the girl. "Lila, darling, would you give us a minute, please?"

Clearly not happy with being asked to leave, Lila huffed, he felt her glare at the back of his head but she didn't argue as she turned and left.

Turning her attention back on him, she smiled and shrugged as if saying, children, right?

Five clenched his jaw, he didn't have time for this.

"What is it you want?" He asked, his voice sharp.

She smiled down at him, exhaling another cloud of smoke.

"What we both want, an end to this endless chase."

Five watched her as she walked towards him, circling him as if he were a mouse.

"After the apocalypse, you got yourself stuck here, all alone, without your dearest family to back you up."

When she walked behind him, he kept his eyes trained ahead, telling her that he wasn't afraid of her.

"I don't know if you noticed, but my family is around in this timeline. And besides, I don't need anyone else to dispose of you."

The Handler laughed.

"You know I love your determination and indomitable spirit, Five. He grimaced when she stood behind him, leaning down and pressing her lips to his ear. "I really do."

Before he really did punch her, she walked away.

"But you're forgetting one thing."

Five turned his head to look at her.

"Oh, what's that?"

She gestured with her cigarette, a cocky smile on her lips.

"Your little family, they're just kids in this timeline."

Five chuckled.

"You'd be surprised what my family could do when they were just _kids."_

She shrugged.

"Oh, I don't doubt that." She took a drag of her cigarette. "But let's face it, taking down robbers is very different from taking down professional, time-travelling assassins. Isn't it?"

Smirking, he cocked his head.

"I'm sure I can manage."

"I don't doubt that either, but I wonder, how long can you keep this up?" She raised a brow."Sure, you can kill assassin after assassin but then the board will keep sending more and more, and on and on they'll go until you're dead so…." She spread her arms."So unless you want to keep dancing to the same tune over and over again, may I suggest a more permanent solution?"

Knowing this was the moment she suggested an alliance in exchange for something, no doubt him killing someone, he glared at her, his jaw clenching. He wanted to simply tell her to go to hell, to just walk away and not hear what she was going to propose, but she was right. He was desperate. There was no way he could erase the price over his head, not unless he did something short of blowing up the commission. And even he couldn't do that, not alone.

Swallowing his pride, he huffed.

"What?" He asked.

The Handler gave him a predatory smile, like a cat who just caught a mouse.

Walking home, Five was deep in thought.

The Handler's proposition, kill the board in exchange for freedom, freedom from the commission, freedom to stay in this timeline, freedom to stop the apocalypse from happening. It was a tempting proposition, but he wouldn't have made it very far in life if he'd just jumped at every opportunity that presented itself without thinking.

So asking her for some time to think it through, he left the warehouse. Before he left, she gave him a date, a month from now, giving him plenty of time to think things through and to heal. He had to be at his peak condition to take out the board after all.

In regards to the Handler's plans, the ones she clearly wasn't telling him, he wasn't sure if letting her become the head of the commission was a good idea. Scratch that. It was a terrible idea, but what other choice does he got?

Standing outside the academy, just by his bedroom window, he took a step forward and spatial jumped all the way to his room.

Too tired, and deep in thought he took off his tie with one hand, wanting nothing more than to slip inside his bed and go to sleep.

Hearing a creak behind him, Five turned on the spot with incredible speed, his hand going inside his coat and taking out his gun and pointed it at the intruder in one motion.

It was dark, but he quickly noticed who it was that was standing before him, prompting him to quickly lower the gun.

Vanya stood there, wearing her pyjamas, eyes wide with fear, body trembling slightly.

Frowning, he opened his mouth to scold her for coming inside his room uninvited, when he froze, his eyes widening.

Clenched between her hands was his notebook.

Vanya opened and closed her mouth, until finally, she spoke, her voice cutting like a knife through butter in the silence.

"Who are you?" She whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m just going to leave that there :)


	8. Extraordinary

Vanya woke up with a start from a nightmare, her breathing coming in raggedly. She blinked a couple of times, rubbing the sleepiness out of her eyes.

It was the usual nightmare, her being back in the bowling alley, defenceless, useless. Usually, the dreams focused on the shooters, but this time it focused on Five repeating the moment he stabbed the pool stick inside the man's neck, over and over again.

Sighing, she slipped out of bed and looked out the window.

It was dark tonight, darker than usual seeing as there was no moon shining. It was thanks to that darkness that her eyes instantly caught on the flash of blue that was Five's spatial jump.

Her eyes narrowed, brows knitting together.

What on earth was Five doing out of his room at this hour, much less with an injury, and all alone? Where could he possibly be going? When the answer entered her mind, she froze.

He wasn't possibly thinking about time travelling, was he? Not again! Last time he had been lucky to come back nearly instantly, but would he be able to do it again? Not to mention how much the ordeal changed him, how much will he change this time if he time travelled?

In a panic, she ran out of her room, heart beating rapidly.

She knew it was futile to go after him, not when he moved from one place to another in a blink. Settling with going to his room to get answers, to try to find out if he was indeed planning to go to the future she ran there.

She didn't bother knocking as she pushed the door open and entered the room. She was a little surprised no one had heard the racquet, but she didn't dwell on it as she closed Five's door behind her.

As expected, the bed was empty, no signs of Five which meant that she hadn't imagined the flash of blue. In normal circumstances, she would be glad that she wasn't seeing things, something that's been happening a couple of times since the shootout, but this time she wasn't so glad.

Five had left and he didn't tell anyone where he was going.

Breathing heavily, she looked around the room, looking for any clues as to where he went at such an ungodly time, and why.

Looking at his desk her eyes landed on a piece of paper lying there, in the middle of the desk.

Walking to the desk, Vanya grabbed the paper and turned it, a message written at the back in Five's handwriting.

_In case I don't make it back, check under the fifth floorboard from the right. All the answers will be there._

_Don't come looking for me_

Vanya read the note over and over again, feeling increasingly more and more worried.

Not only had Five gone somewhere, but he went somewhere he might not be coming back from.

Her grip on the note tightened, creasing the corners. She should go and wake up Pogo, and even dad as well as her siblings. If Five was in danger, they needed to go after him, they needed to help him, they needed to…

_Don't come looking for me_

Was written at the end of the note.

_Check under the fifth floorboard from the right. All the answers will be there._

Vanya lowered the note, unsure as to what to do.

What if she tells everyone that Five's gone, and by going after him she'll be putting the others in danger? Maybe even putting Five in danger. He clearly didn't want them following him, and even if they did, they had no idea where to look. It's a big city, he could be anywhere by now.

Eyes shifting to the side, they landed on the floorboard where Five had said all the answers were.

Vanya gulped, she looked at the floorboard for a long while.

He clearly meant for someone to find the note and check under the floorboard. Could it be that whatever he hid there would give her a clue as to where Five was? Or what he was doing?

Making up her mind she knelt on the floor, she counted the floorboards until she arrived at the fifth one. From afar she couldn't tell any difference between the others, but now that she was close to it she could tell it wasn't as secure to the other floorboards as the others were.

Using her nails to pull out the floorboard, she revealed a small hole big enough to hide a book and a few small things. Currently, however, there was just one medium-size blue notebook with leather bindings.

Recognizing it as the notebook she had seen Five write on when he had been frantically writing on the walls, she frowned.

What on earth was Five up to? This was the last straw when it comes to strange behaviour he's been exhibiting in the last month and a half. Leaving in the middle of the night, leaving a note behind saying that he might not return? Writing a notebook that apparently explained all his strange behaviour? She was beyond worried about him now, and it's about time she got the answer if only to find out how to help him!

She sat back on the floor, her back propped against the bed, book in hand.

She opened it to the first page, her eyes widening when she saw the overcrowded, tiny formulas and equations covering most of the paper she didn't understand one bit. Turning the pages, all she found was that all the pages were the same, just equations until she was halfway through the notebook and the equations and formulas stopped. Instead, there was a date at the upper corner and writing underneath it.

Eyes narrowing, she read.

November fifth,

it's been a month since I arrived at this timeline. So far…

* * *

Clear, green eyes met brown ones as Five and Vanya looked at each other, neither of them unsure as to how to react, what to say, not when they were both in equal shock.

The room felt quieter than it had ever been, all Five could hear was the loud beating of his heart.

Vanya, the Vanya, had read his notebook? The one he had left behind for their father, the one that documented everything about the apocalypse and how she was the one responsible for it? No, there must be some mistake, there's no way something like that could be happening, that he had made such a stupid mistake. There was just no way.

And yet, no matter how many times he looked from her face to the notebook, hoping that he was seeing wrong, he couldn't deny that he wasn't. Vanya was indeed holding his blue notebook, and given her expression, she had also read it. How much? He wasn't sure.

"How much did you read?" He asked in a whisper, all the shock he was feeling coming through in his voice.

His eyes were trained on the notebook, still in disbelief, she had it in her hands.

"You need to answer my question fi-"

"How much did you read?" He snapped, meeting her eyes.

He instantly felt guilty for raising his voice as Vanya took a step back, startled. Her eyes were wide, her jaws clenched, her grip on his notebook tight. In his life, he had never seen Vanya so scared, a fear that was caused by him.

Closing his eyes briefly, he felt himself going back to a particular memory.

They had been sixth years old, the seven of them gathered around their father's desk. They were all confused as to what they were doing there, their father rarely ever let them inside his office, not unless they had gotten in trouble.

Unable to ask what they were doing there, they patiently awaited his answer. When he did speak, all seven of them had listened with rapt attention.

_As a team, it is your main duty, above all else, to protect one another. Remember this, children._

That's all he had said, but it was the seriousness, the way they all just stood there frozen as he spoke, that prompted Five, and he suspected the others to engrave those words to their memories. However, what Five had found the most interesting then was that their father had also included Vanya in what he said, reminding them that, although she had no powers and wasn't a member of the team, she was still very much one of their siblings, and needed to be protected.

Protect his family, those were words he kept repeating to himself while in the commission. Indeed, whatever he did was for his family. All the struggle, all the pain, all the work, all for them, and now here he was, scaring Vanya.

Feeling a pang of guilt, and hurt, he sighed and shook his head, trying to calm down. He wasn't angry at her, not at all, he was angry at himself. How could he make such a stupid mistake?

"Not much, I- I didn't understand most of it,' she spluttered.

Five closed his eyes, relieved. Maybe she hadn't read very far, just took a peek at his formulas and calculations. However, when she spoke again he tensed.

"But I-I did read the part where you said I have power," She said softly, sounding like she couldn't believe what she was saying.

Eyes snapping open, Five clenched his jaw, his nose flared.

This was perfect, just perfect.

He didn't want Vanya knowing about her powers, not yet at least, not until he fixed this entire mess with the commission, and got to inform their father of her involvement in the apocalypse. Now? Well, now that was all thrown out the window. Vanya knew, and he had no clue what he should do. Just perfect!

Five placed one hand on his hip, the other pushed his hair back, a nervous tic.

Vanya kept her eyes on him as he walked from one end of the room to the other, deep in thought. He had half a mind in waking up Allison and forcing her to rumour Vanya to forget what she read in his notebook, the only reason he didn't do that was because Allison would be pulled into this mess. One thing he was certain on was in not dragging his other siblings into this.

Vanya was breathing hard, clearly distraught.

"Why did you write that? I don't have powers, I never have!" She shook her head, panic clear in her voice. "Who are you?" She asked again, more desperation in her voice than before.

Stopping, Five looked at the wall and sighed. He had no other option.

"I need you to sit down, Vanya."

Vanya quickly shook her head and took in a deep breath.

"No! I won't sit down, I deserve answers!" Vanya shook on the spot, her fingers white from how hard she was clenching his notebook. "You need to tell me what this all means!"

Five tensed, he knew that if it weren't for her pill his room would be up in shambles already, instead all he felt was the slight rumble of the floor underneath his shoes, caused by her no doubt. The pills were stopping her from going into a dangerous level of anger, but clearly some of the anger was seeping through. If that wasn't worrying enough, then the fact that he's never known Vanya to snap at him or anyone in such a matter was.

Being the calm, and timid sister that she was. Vanya never once snapped, except of course when she destroyed the moon. Clearly, what she had read had shaken her enough to garner such a reaction.

Looking at her, he sighed. He needed to remain calm, he couldn't add more fuel into the fire by losing his patience.

"And I'm going to give you those answers."

Vanya opened her mouth to argue when she realized that he had decided to give her the answers she wanted. She was no doubt expected to argue with him some more. Underneath his feet, the rumbling stopped.

Five gestured to his bed.

"This is going to be a long story, trust me, you'll want to sit down for it."

For a few seconds, Vanya looked at him before she nodded, her lips formed into a tight line as she sat on the edge of his bed. Grabbing his desk chair, Five turned it and sat on it so he was facing her.

Propping his elbows on his knees, he leaned forward, his eyes meeting her's.

"What I'm going to tell you is very sensitive information and cannot leave this room, Vanya," he tilted his head down. "I need to know that you understand that."

Vanya regarded him for a few seconds but ultimately nodded.

"I understand."

Taking a deep breath, he started to speak.

"When I ran out of the academy a month ago, I didn't just go to the future for a few days and then came back, I was stuck there for thirty-seven years…"

On and on he told her about his past. How he got stuck in the future, how he's actually a fifty-eight-year-old man stuck in his former thirteen-year-old body. How he got recruited by the commission, leaving out what his job entailed, she didn't need to know he was a first-rate murderer. He also left out everything about the apocalypse, not telling her how he was stuck in the future all alone, how it had been her who caused it. He did, however, tell her about his time in two thousand and nineteen and how he met the thirty-year-old her.

When his mouth finally closed, and he was done explaining things, he felt like a load was taken off his shoulders. Like he had just given up a secret that has been digging at him all this time, and now that she knew it, come what may, he felt relieved.

For a long while, Vanya just stared at him, her brows knit together, her mouth opening and closing slowly, no doubt unsure as to what to say. He worried that she might think he's gone insane like her older counterpart, think that he somehow made the whole story up, that he needed professional help.

Vanya shook her head softly.

"That's…"

"It's a lot to take in, I know."

Vanya blinked, her eyes quickly switching from one part of his face to the other.

"So you're fifty years old?" she asked, unsure.

"Fifty-eight," he corrected.

It was a little late to be sensitive about his age, being a fifty-eight-year-old man in a kid's body, but he still felt the need to correct her and others.

Vanya nodded, a frown dominated her face, which then softened as comprehension flashed in her eyes.

"Wait, so those men at the Super Star…."

Five gave her a nod.

"They're with the commission, sent to kill me."

Eyes widening, Vanya looked at him shocked, fear clear in her eyes.

"They've followed you here?" she asked softly.

He had left out of details about the commission, but he did still paint them in a bad light.

"Shouldn't we tell someone? Dad? The others? Maybe they can h-"

"No."

He quickly cut her off. He knew she would want to involve their siblings and father, that's why he had her promise she wouldn't.

Leaning forward, he knit his brows and met her eyes.

"Whatever happens, Vanya, you cannot tell anyone, especially not the others."

She opened and closed her mouth.

"But-"

"Vanya, you gave me your word," he reminded her, his voice a little too sharp.

Vanya's eyes widened once more but she sighed and nodded.

Five felt relief flood inside him. He rarely trusted anyone word, but Vanya is one of the rare exceptions. In all the time he's known her, she has never revealed any of his secrets to anyone. Hell, he doubted she told anyone about the apocalypse in the future.

A long few seconds ticked by as they looked at each other. She still looked unsure and shocked but at least she wasn't looking at him with fear. Which made him wonder…

He shifted on his chair.

"So, you believe me?" he cringed a little inside at how anxious he sounded.

Vanya sighed and looked at her hands. He started to get a bad feeling.

"A part of me doesn't, dad did say time travel could have a negative effect on your mind."

He tensed at her words.

"But on the other hand, it makes perfect sense. The way you've been acting lately, how much you've changed...it all makes sense now."

Shoulder slumping slightly, he sighed. He was worried that she wouldn't believe him, just like her older counterpart hadn't but It would seem that young Vanya believes more easily and readily in the impossible, which makes sense. Her older self is an adult and has grown distrustful and cynical of the world. This Vanya is none of those things. It was rather comforting. He hoped that when it's all said and done, she can remain this way. Looking at the world in a positive light.

"But…" she drawled, tilting her head. "it is a bit...weird."

Five snorted, that was an understatement.

"I mean," she waved her hand. "How am I supposed to treat you? Like an adult?"

Five cocked his head.

"I don't see why you can't keep treating me like your brother."

She smiled and nodded.

Fived leaned back on his chair and gestured at her.

"Now, I'm sure you have more questions other than my age."

He knew she wanted to talk about her powers, more than anything. Unfortunately, there was much he couldn't tell her, much he shouldn't tell her, and for that, he knew he'd no doubt have to either omit a lot of things or lie.

Smile falling, she looked at him unsure once more. For a few seconds, she just looked at him until she opened her mouth and spoke.

"How do I fit in all of this?" She asked softly.

He knew the question was coming, but he still tensed a little.

She leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees, matching his posture.

"How do I have powers?"

Five took in a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

"In my timeline, when I was young, none of us considered it that it's possible that you are not powerless, but just a late bloomer," he started his lie.

Vanya scowled and cocked her head.

"How so?"

Sighing, he continued the elaborate lie he spun in his head.

"In the future, I was shocked to learn that you had powers and not just any power, but powers that far surpass any of ours and then some." He stopped, remembering how she had held him suspended in the air, slowly sucking the energy out of him. At the unpleasant memory, he had to stop himself from shivering. "I spoke to the older you, and she told me how your powers manifested when you were thirteen," he lied through his teeth, like every fucking asshole who has lied to her all her life.

He felt like shit, lying to her like that but he couldn't very well tell her the truth, especially when the truth hurt so much. He wanted to save her from it. And besides, it's unlikely she'll learn the truth, not when she doesn't know what he just told him is a lie. There was also the fact that she might have an easier time controlling her powers if she thinks she's just starting to develop them. It would be like slowly opening the tap, allowing water to flow in a steady stream, rather than opening the whole thing and letting all the water pour out. She would also have an easier time transitioning to having no powers to having powers, rather than shocking her with the thought that she has an incredibly dangerous power she can't control.

Vanya's eyes were wide, no doubt coming to grips to what she'd just heard. He didn't doubt how shocking such a thing would be, couldn't even imagine it in fact. He's had his powers for as long as he can remember, it was a part of him and couldn't imagine life without it. Sure, when he was young he couldn't spatial jump properly, always ending up in the wrong place, like the fountain outside which got a kick out of his siblings, to rooms he hadn't meant to spatial jump to. Still, his powers were as natural to him as breathing, to take them away would be like cutting off a part of him, something their father did to Vanya, and clearly hurt her deeply.

"What are my powers?" She asked weakly, a bit of intrigue coming through her voice.

"It's hard to explain," he sighed. He himself doesn't understand her powers fully, much less what the extent of them is. Well, he did see her blow up the moon so it's safe to say her power level is in the world ending range.

"Your powers are tied to your emotions. By picking up sound waves you convert them into energy with which you can use to do a lot of things."

Her brows raised and pulled together.

"That sounds scary,"

Expression softening, Five gave her a reassuring half-smile.

"I know, but I'll help you learn to control it," he promised. Last time, it was the bloody bastard Harold Jenkins who had unlocked her abilities, but not this time. He was going to make sure of that.

He leaned forward on his sit, maintaining eye contact with her.

"You won't be alone in all of this," he promised. "You'll learn to control your powers and in time, you'll be a member of the Umbrella Academy."

Upon hearing his words, Vanya took in a sharp breath, her eyes widened no doubt just realizing that with powers she could be part of the team, something he knew she always wanted. He remembered, what felt like eons ago, when they were getting their tattoos and she stood to the side, watching them with a longing to join them, to be included. Truthfully, he didn't know if their father would let Vanya join if she learned to control her powers, but he was going to do his best to convince him.

"Is that what you saw in my future? I learn to control my powers? I become one of you?" She sounded so hopeful.

No, he thought to himself, remembering how her role in the future is much bleaker, to destroy the planet.

"Vanya," he smiled. "Your future is whatever you want it to be." He waved his hand. "Join the Umbrella academy, or not- It's up to you. As far as anyone's concerned, you have your entire life ahead of you to make all those decisions."

Vanya tilted her head, not seeming to believe him that she had the power to make those decisions and he didn't blame her. When one's young, everything feels like it's out of one's power, but he was going to make sure she got over that way of thinking. She has a choice, everyone does.

"Will you teach me?" She asked unsure as if she worried he might say no.

"I just said I would, didn't I?"

"But when?" She quickly asked.

Five blinked a couple of times. She didn't honestly want to start training this very instant? He shouldn't be surprised, and yet he still didn't see her eagerness to learn coming. There was still a lot he had to deal with before he could teach Vanya to control her powers, especially when he knows teaching her will take most of his focus. In all honesty, he didn't know how to teach her, he did have an idea where to start but wasn't sure where to go from there. There was also the danger that in unlocking her powers she might lose control. They do live in a house with five other siblings, what happens if one of the said siblings angered her?

Five shook his head.

"I don't think-"

"Come on Five, I just learned I have powers and you want me to wait? I've waited thirteen years already!" She whined, something he was sure he's never heard her do.

Five met her puppy eyes and he didn't have a chance.

He sighed, he supposed he could teach her the basics, he does have a month until he has to meet back with the Handler and give her his answer.

Sighing in defeat, he formed his lips into a tight line.

"It's not going to be easy Vanya."

Vanya gave him a full-blown smile, one he hadn't seen since the shootout. Her contagious glee made him smile a little before he pulled his expression back to a serious one.

"There are also a few rules you need to agree to before then."

Smile falling slightly, she nodded, focusing.

He put his hand up.

"First, the others can't know, not even dad."

Vanya frowned, confused.

"Why?"

Five waved his hand.

"It's too soon for them to know, and it would disrupt the timeline." he lied. She looked at him skeptically but didn't say anything on the matter.

"Second, since the others can't know, I can only teach you during night time." He looked her straight in the eyes. "This means you'll be pulling long nights training, but I still expect you to attend your studies during the day and exceed at them. I don't accept mediocrity, in anything."

As expected, Vanya didn't even think about it as she eagerly nodded. He supposed he would be the same too. Still, he wasn't exactly looking forward to staying up for most of the nights. He's going to have to sneak out and buy some instant coffee sometime tomorrow. He wasn't too happy with needing to conform with such a crude method to make coffee, but it was better than nothing.

Taking a deep breath, he went on to his third rule, the one he was trying to avoid, but knew he needed to say it. If he didn't then she couldn't use her powers.

"Third." He held up three fingers. "You need to lower the number of times you take your pills."

Vanya's reaction was instantaneous.

Frowning, she looked at him confused.

"Why?"

Five sighed and leaned back on his chair, crossing his arms. He was asking the same question to himself. Why was he telling Vanya, who could blow up the house from a tantrum, to stop taking the very pills that kept her from doing that? Of course, it was so he could unlock her powers and teach her to control them, but the logical, cold side of him was still wondering if that was a good idea?

"The pills help you with your anxiety but they also subdue your emotions. You can't use your powers if you're taking them, that's what your older self told me."

Vanya kept frowning, looking at him confused for a second and he dearly hoped she wasn't putting two and two together. How convenient, that a pill she's been told to take since she could remember, subdues her emotions the very thing she needed to use her powers.

Thankfully, she didn't seem to find it odd as she nodded, but still had a question.

"So why don't I stop taking them altogether?"

"Because rather than quitting the pills altogether, you'll be doing it slowly. That way you can unlock your powers gradually, making it easier to control them."

Vanya nodded, seeing the reasoning behind his words.

That was indeed the reason why he didn't want her to quit them in one go, but not the only reason. Pills like the ones Vanya's taking, they're really strong and addictive. By now, Vanya must have become dependent on them and she doesn't even realize it. In order to make the process easier for her, it's best to quit them slowly.

"So how often should I be taking them?"

Five hummed and looked at her thoughtfully.

"I don't know, how long can you go without them before you feel the urge to take one?"

Five formed his lips into a tight line.

He felt like he was talking to Klaus, trying to stop his drug addiction, it unsettled him slightly. However, this addiction wasn't any less potent, so he had to tread with care.

Vanya pursed his lips and looked at the ceiling for a second, considering the answer. When she looked back at him she answered.

"I don't know, one day I guess?"

Five nodded. It wasn't that bad then. He was worried she was going to say she couldn't even go one day without them, especially with what he was going to tell her.

"Alright, then I want you to take half of one every two days. Got it?"

For a few seconds Vanya looked at him unsure but then nodded.

Holding up a fourth finger, he continued with his rules.

"Fourth, you need to do everything I say. So if I tell you to run around the entire academy five times, you do it. If I say we're just going to sit down to meditate all evening, you'll do that, and if I say we take a break, we take a break, no arguments, got it?"

Out of all his rules, this was one of the most important ones. While he taught her how to control her powers, he had to make sure that she followed his every command, especially when he told her to stop. If she couldn't do that then he couldn't teach her, it was that simple.

A clearly easy rule for her, as she hastily nodded and smiled excitedly.

"So, when do we start?"

Five raised a brow.

"Not tonight if that's what you're thinking."

Vanya quickly deflated and pouted but he stood by his decision. He was beyond tired from the day's events, and she needed to get the pill out of her system so even if he said yes they wouldn't be able to start her training.

"We'll start tomorrow evening at ten o'clock sharp after everyone's gone to sleep. Got it?"

Vanya lit up once more, her smile returning to her lips as she hastily nodded. Once again, her happiness was infectious as he felt the corner of his lip quirk up. He dearly hoped he wasn't making a terrible, world-ending decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that wen’t rather well... even though the lies keep piling up. 
> 
> As always, thank you all for your continued support, you comments really do keep me writing!


	9. A certain fish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SPOILER WARNING.
> 
> If you haven't read the comics, there is a bit of a spoiler ahead. It's nothing groundbreaking, and I doubt they'll include it in the series, seeing as they passed the opportunity to do so. I just want to warn you guys just in case.

Five's brows were knit together, his lips pursed as he concentrated. Before him was the biggest decision yet, one he was having a bit of a problem with.

"Do you need help with that?" A female voice asked.

Looking up, he turned to face her.

He was standing beside a grocery shelf, in his hand, he had two bags of coffee. Around him, as they did their shopping, people eyed him, no doubt wondering what a thirteen-year-old could want with coffee. Just like the grocery clerk that was smiling at him in a friendly manner, but was also intrigued by him.

"Yes actually," Five looked down at the coffee bags then back at her. "Out of these two brands, which one would you recommend?"

The clerk's brows raised, surprised.

"Oh, well it depends entirely on the person consuming it." She looked around the aisle as if she was looking for someone, but when she didn't find them she looked back at him. "Do you know what your parents like?"

Brow twitching, Five gave her his usual exasperated smile.

" _I_ like a stronger, bitter flavour."

"Oh, so the coffee's for you then?" She asked shocked, clearly not having expected a thirteen-year-old to be so concentrated in coffee brands. It wasn't odd for a thirteen-year-old to drink coffee, but it was odd to see one buying it at the grocery store. "Well in that case, may I recommend th-"

Suddenly stopping halfway through her sentence, Five frowned as the clerk cocked her head and peered at him. He was getting a bad feeling about this.

"Wait, do I know you from somewhere?"

He shook his head, knowing exactly where this was going and wanting to stop it before it got out of hand.

"I very much doubt it."

The woman kept looking at him with the same, I-know-I-know-you-from-somewhere look.

"No, no I definitely know you from somewhere," she insisted.

Five huffed.

"Nope, I just have one of those faces," he grinned.

The woman narrowed her eyes as she looked at him, trying to remember where it was she knew him from until her eyes widened in recognition.

"It-it's you! You're one of those Umbrella kids, you're number Five!"

Around him people stopped completely what they were doing and blatantly stared at them, murmuring to one another as they started to walk towards them.

Five groaned.

Before he could be surrounded he spatial jumped out of the grocery store, at the alleyway, coffee bag in his hand. He hadn't paid for it, but then again he hadn't intended to in the first place.

He shook his head, couldn't he just go out without people recognizing him? That is admittedly one of the things he missed about the future. In twenty nineteen, the Umbrella Academy popularity had completely blown over, most people barely recognized them in public, except of course Allison. Here though, they are at the golden years of their fame. He couldn't so much as take a step out of the academy without someone realizing who he is.

He rolled his eyes and shook his head when he heard the familiar click of a gun.

Instantly his muscles tensed, his jaw clenched, lips formed into a tight line and his brows lowered.

He concentrated in hearing so he could spatial jump out of the way before the person could shoot. However, when there was no gunshot, he knew they didn't want to kill him, at least not quickly.

"Let me guess," he sang, not at all threatened. "You're the assassin the commission sent after me?"

When the assassin didn't answer, he slowly turned on the spot, not wanting to startle the assassin. Once he was face to face with not one assassin, but three of them, he quirked a brow.

They were brothers, that much was obvious. Their hair was light blond, so light in fact that it almost seemed white. Their appearance was very different. The tallest had a few scars, his hair long. The other one had slicked-back hair and was the one holding the gun to his face. The shortest one seemed considerably younger out of them all.

Five cocked his head.

"I was wondering when you'd show up."

Briefly, Five's eyes darted around the alleyway, trying to see if there was anyone around if they did decide to attack. He didn't want any witnesses.

When he didn't see anyone, he looked back at them.

The one holding the gun, he guessed the leader seeing as the other watched him intently, awaiting his orders as they stood behind him, thrust-out his chin.

"You are number Five," he said, as a matter of fact, his accent thick, no doubt exhausting his knowledge in English. Well, Five wasn't going to humiliate the man further and decided to switch to Swedish instead.

" _I am,_ " he answered he answered in Swedish, with a bit of an accent.

The man wasn't at all surprised that he spoke his language, he simply kept staring at him with the same cold, emotionless eyes. Clearly, they weren't here to kill him, which made him wonder, what could they possibly be doing here?

He opened his mouth when they heard the back door to the grocery store opened. All four of them snapped their heads towards the door and looked at the very oblivious worker who no doubt was on his way to his break.

Looking up from his cigarette pack, the store clerk frowned in confusion until his attention landed on the gun and his eyes widened.

Before the man could say a word, the tallest of the assassins raised his gun and shot him between the eyes, the gunshot muffled by the silencer.

Five didn't even blink as the store clerk fell back on the closed door, eyes still wide open as blood poured out of his wound and began to pool around him. That was just a load of bad luck for the man.

Without missing a beat, Five looked from the dead store clerk and back at the Swedes, his eyes landing on the gun that was still pointed at him.

_"If you're going to use that, I suggest you hurry. I hate waiting."_

The leader narrowed his eyes for a second, no doubt not comfortable with lowering his gun and losing the advantage he thought he had. However, after a few seconds of consideration, he slowly lowered his gun, eyeing him in case he tried something.

When the gun was by his side, the man reached for something inside his coat. Five watched the card the man slipped out of his jacket and held it out to him.

Frowning, Five took the card, never losing eye contact with the man. Once he was sure the man wasn't a threat, Five looked down at the card.

_Meet me at the Aeternalis bar at six o'clock._

_A.J_

His reaction was very different from when he'd read the Handler's invitation to meet up, having had expected it, but with this, he was utterly caught by surprise.

Brows knitting together, nose flaring he glared at the signature.

So, the leader of the Temps commission, his old mentor wanted to meet with him? If Carmichael had the wish to continue living, then he wouldn't share the same space as him. When he last saw him, knowing he was going to break his contract, he promised himself that next time they next meet, he would kill the damn fish. Carmichael must know this, which means that there's a very good reason for arranging a meeting. He very much doubted that the damn goldfish wanted to lure him to his death. It wasn't his style, he did learn everything he knows from him after all, although he surpassed him a long time ago.

_"Don't be late,"_ the man grumbled, turning on the spot and leaving, the others following closely behind.

Five watched them as they went down a corner and disappeared. Following their example, he spatial jumped out of the alley before someone noticed the body.

* * *

Outside the Aeternalis bar, a secluded bar deep inside the city, Five knocked on the rusty metal door.

As he waited, he thought of what he was going to do. While he wanted nothing more than to kill the damn fish, he knew he couldn't. Whatever Carmichael had to say to him had to be very important, and something he might be able to use. And besides, his former mentor wouldn't go into such a dangerous situation without a few cards up his sleeve.

The door slightly opened, the head of an old man poked over it. Eyes landing on him, the old man didn't need any verification as he stepped back and opened the door wide, allowing Five to walk in.

Five didn't look at the man as he walked in, his eyes trained ahead.

The Aeternalis bar was not unlike any other bar, except of course that the decor was a few decades behind. The decor was dominantly Victorian, with a lot of reds and mahogany browns. By the wall, there was a large, impressive bar with golden metal lining the edge. There were tables and booths all around the bar, which were all empty seeing as the bar wasn't technically opened yet, except of course for one table.

Eyes landing in the middle of the bar, Five glared at Carmichael who was sitting there, posture relaxed as he nursed a glass of whiskey lazily between his fingers.

Walking towards him, his anger rising, Five did his best from grabbing the closet, heavy object to smash that damn bowl to pieces.

Standing in front of the table, looming over A.J, the fish wasn't at all threatened as he looked up at him.

"Five," A.J greeted, gesturing with his glass.

"Carmichael," he hissed. "You better have a very good reason for calling me here."

Not at all fazed by his anger, A.J tapped his glass.

"Of course, I have some business to discuss with you."

A.J gestured at the only chair around the table, the one facing him.

"Sit."

Five glared at him for one last time before he pulled the chair back and sat on it, folding his hands on top of the table. Like before, A.J wasn't affected by his former pupil's anger as he reached inside his breast pocket and took out a small tin box. Five watched as A.J took out a cigarette from it.

Noticing his attention on him, turning in his bowl A.J looked at him. Holding out the tin box, he offered him one.

Five looked at it for a second. He didn't often smoke, he had a few times before but he wasn't a smoker. However, having spent months without a proper drink or coffee, he found himself reaching for one.

Putting the tin box back inside his breast pocket, A.J spoke.

"I have a proposition," A.J took a lighter that was resting on the table, and lit his own cigarette and then offered it to Five.

Five practically yanked it out of his hand, lighting his cigarette and then throwing it back onto the table. Again, A.J wasn't fazed, which only proved to get under his nerves.

"I know we haven't seen eye to eye lately, by us I mean the commission," A.J said.

Five snorted, he held back the fact that, while he had his issues with the commission, he had his own personal ones with him.

"However, given your experience with us, you must understand it's not personal."

Five cocked his head.

"Of course," he gave him a predatory smile, sarcasm dripping down his voice, taking a drag from his cigarette.

Not personal his ass. Going on missions to kill people he's never met before isn't personal, wanting to kill someone who ordered that he'd be experimented on and turned into the perfect weapon is. A.J of course didn't see it that way.

A.J gestured with his drink.

"You're the finest assassin the commission's ever produced and given your years of service I feel that it's only proper that I give you the chance to settle this without using any violence."

Five's nose flared.

"You should have said that before you sent your men after me, putting my family in danger."

A.J leaned forward, elbows resting on the table, cigarette between his fingers.

"As I said, that was just business, nothing personal. You had just attacked our headquarters, the other members of the board couldn't just let that pass."

"But you could?" He smiled, knowing exactly where A.J was going with this.

He wasn't surprised that the damn fish was trying to make a deal with him. It's the kind of shit he expected him to do. The only reason he didn't crack that bowl open was because the damn fish must have a damn good deal in mind, one he probably didn't think he'd turn down. Being in a situation that was either to help the Handler or declaring one-man war against the commission, he had no other choice but to listen.

A.J fluttered his fins.

"Depends."

Five smirked, shook his head and took a drag of his cigarette. Here it comes, the deal, yet another person he'll no doubt have to kill. That is his expertise after all. You don't contact an assassin unless you want someone dead.

A.J leaned forward on his seat.

"You see, the Handler, she's been acting strangely lately, calling in sick a lot when I've never known her to miss one day of work." A.J took a drag from his cigarette, coughing a little. "I know she's up to something."

Five wasn't at all surprised. A.J's smart, he would notice the Handler's strange behaviour with little difficulty. On the other hand, he suspected that the Handler must know that A.J suspected something, which is probably one of the reasons why she wanted to get rid of him. What she probably didn't suspect, however, was A.J contacting him.

A.J folded his hands.

"I know she has a personal grudge to settle with you, so I imagine she must be spending her time away to go after you. And something tells me that you've already spoken to her, perhaps received a proposition from her as well."

Five raised a brow, but still not surprised.

"Cut to the chase Carmichael."

A.J leaned back on his seat and took a drag of his cigarette.

"The handler has become too uncontrollable... too ambitious for her own good." He tapped the ash from his cigarette on the ashtray. "So I want you to take her out of the picture."

The bar was incredibly quiet as they both looked at each other.

Lips forming into a wide smile, Five let out a chuckle, breaking the silence. Oh, this was just rich. Two commission members, who he both wanted dead, want his help to kill the other. It was just too amusing.

A.J leaned back on his chair.

"You and I both know there's no such thing as favours. So if you do this for us I'll erase all your transgressions against the commission, and call off any assassins after your head."

Five didn't even look at A.J, his attention on his cigarette, watching it as the fire slowly burned the paper.

He knew A.J had a hidden agenda, something he wasn't telling him, but unlike the Handler who was a wild card, Five could easily read him.

"Why not just kill her yourself?" He asked the same question he had made the Handler. Before he said anything, he already knew his answer would be the same. No one wants to get their hands dirty.

A.J took a drag from his cigarette.

"It's against company policy."

Five smirked.

"It's never stopped you before."

A.J agreed, gesturing with his hand.

"It is true that we have orchestrated the death of few of our...more unruly members, but we have a policy to never outright kill them. We simply…" A.J waved his hand. "Leave them to their own demise."

"Stranded in a different time period you mean?"

A.J cocked his head and shrugged.

"It's far better than death, and not against company policy."

Five grit his teeth. That was one of the reasons he hated the commission, they never went against company _policy,_ always following the rules. The reason that A.J was going against company policy and asking for help meant that he was desperate.

"Why not do the same with her?" He asked.

It would be so simple to just leave her stranded in this time period, although he suspected she would find a way to get out.

"She has always been far too smart for her own good, she probably already knows that I plan to get rid of her. And if she has already asked for your help, which I suspect she has, then we both know she'll double-cross you."

Five hummed, agreeing with him. Still, that didn't mean he was just going to blindly accept his deal. A.J wasn't one to go back on his word, at least that much he had, but he did have a pesky tendency of leaving certain details out of a deal until he could use them to his advantage.

"But?" Asked Five, leaning forward on his seat.

"But what?"

Five scoffed. He hated when people played stupid, especially with someone like A.J. A fish too damn smart for his own good.

"I imagine you have conditions? I doubt you'll just let me go on my merry way, not with all the knowledge I have about the future."

As nice as A.J's deal sounded, that was just the problem, it was too good. He seriously doubted that he'll just kill the Handler and be on his merry way, free to stop their precious apocalypse. No, there was no way it would be that easy.

A.J didn't answer right away, and Five knew that this was probably where he'll decide to refuse his proposition and A.J knew that.

Sighing, A.J leaned forward on his seat, tiny fish eyes meeting his.

"The only way to erase the target over your head, the memories you've had after the age of thirteen will be taken from you."

Five tensed, his smile falling.

"When this is all said and done, you will have no knowledge about the apocalypse or the commission." A.J took the last drag of his cigarette, and extinguished it on the ashtray, eyes never leaving his. "You will, of course, be returned back to your family and won't ever be bothered by any member of the commission."

Once again the bar was completely quiet, and once again it was Five's laughter that broke the silence.

"So, you'll let me be? That is until two thousand nineteen I imagine when you come knocking at the door to get Vanya and use her as a bomb to destroy the world?" His voice became progressively angrier.

For a few seconds, A.J regarded him, before he leaned forward and propped his arms on the table.

"You're an intelligent man Five."

"That's an understatement."

A.J nodded in agreement.

"I know lying to you will prove futile, so I'll tell you the truth and admit what you already know. That we cannot stop the apocalypse from happening."

Five looked up at the ceiling and chuckled, before looking down at the fish once more.

"What a surprise!" He scoffed.

A.J nodded.

"That is, unfortunately, the one thing we never could convince you of, to simply let go of your obsession with the apocalypse, to just accept it." A.J sighed, sounding genuinely disappointed. "You were so close to becoming the perfect assassin."

The air around them tensed as Five's smile slipped out of his face, and he glared intensely at A.J.

His former mentor sighed and waved his hand before things got out of hand.

"We will continue to set the apocalypse in motion even with you in the picture, and even if you managed to teach your sister how to control her powers. Nothing will change."

Five's nose flared. Of course, A.J would know his plan, he knew him well, that and the fact that he had the infinite switchboard. It was hard enough to go up against the commission as it is, it would be downright impossible to do so without his memories, the one thing keeping him one step ahead.

Five looked down at his hands shook his head. A.J, no doubt realizing that he was losing him, leaned forward on his seat.

"This is the perfect deal Five," he insisted. "You can go on to live a happy life, take back those teenage years you never had and spend them with your family, blissfully unaware of what's to come."

Five chuckled and met A.J's eyes.

"Wow, sixteen more years to live. I should consider myself lucky!"

A.J cocked his head.

"It is more than most get. You of all people should know this." Leaning back on his chair, A.J raised his head, "After all, didn't we send you in a few missions to kill rather young targets?"

Five's lips thinned. He didn't need to be reminded of that.

Not wanting to think about the deal, at least not yet, especially when he's still shaken about it, and not wanting to be in A.J's presence any longer lest he really decides to kill him, he suddenly stood up, took the last drag of his cigarette and flicked it to the corner of the room.

"In one month, if I've decided to take your deal, I will meet you back here."

Without saying another word, Five spatial jumped out of the bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really love the umbrella academy show and I loved all the characters and all the changes they made to their personalities and powers, however, there is one character I did not agree with and that was A.J
> 
> In the show, the Handler was actually replaced by A.J, so you can imagine how different A.J is in the comics. He did apparently teach Five and did experiments on him to turn him into the deadliest assassin after all.
> 
> However, in the show, A.J is so useless, a coward that makes such stupid mistakes. So in this story, I decided to change A.J and make him more like he is in the comics. So don't be confused as to why he's different here from the show.
> 
> Alright, so onto the story itself!
> 
> So Five's got two deals now to chose from, and they both have their pros and their cons. So, I'm just wondering which one you all think he should take?
> 
> Let me know in the comments, and I'll be seeing you wonderful readers next time!


	10. Sound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's my tenth chapter! Of course l had to write a very long chapter for the occasion.

To say Five was a tough teacher was an understatement.

Upon hearing that she has powers, she hadn't been sure what to think. A big part of her was excited, unable to believe that she isn't ordinary but was just like her siblings. However, another part of her was nervous, scared and even a little skeptical. Could it be that she really does have powers, and if so, how was she supposed to learn to control them? How could she hope to catch up with the others? There was also the fact that she knew Five was hiding things from her. When she heard his whole recount of what happened in the future, she knew there were a lot of things he was omitting, she could tell in the way he would sometimes look away from her whenever he decided to hide something. She didn't push him, telling her something like that must have been difficult, but she still felt uneasy.

The day after learning she had powers, she was beyond excited, barely even registering how odd it felt not taking her pills in the morning. While in class she could barely concentrate, her eyes kept going to the clock on the wall, tapping her pen. Even her siblings were starting to take notice of her strange behaviour.

When evening came, she had gone to Five's room where he waited for her. She was unsure as to how they were supposed to sneak out of the house until Five put his hand on her shoulder and spatial jumped them to the grass below. Lurching forward, she had nearly lost the contents of her stomach. In all her life she never once saw Five use his powers with someone. When she asked him where he learned to do that, he simply shrugged and told her he learned it in the future, after honing his skills but couldn't do it often seeing as it took a lot of energy.

Doing her best to settle down her stomach, wondering how on earth Five could subject himself to that all the time, she eagerly awaited to learn how they were going to start their training. An eagerness she quickly lost.

Instructing her to run around the academy three times as a warm-up, her smile fell.

By the point, she was done her laps she was already exhausted, barely able to breathe. She isn't exactly athletically inclined like her siblings, never once being included in their training sessions. After her laps, he made her do push-ups, having great difficulty with them as she was unable to even do one proper one. After that, he moved on to other exercises that made her body feel like it was slowly falling apart. Not once did he instruct her on how to use her powers, or even bringing it up.

After two hours of exercise, and she felt like she couldn't move a muscle, he had her seat by the fountain and told her to meditate after teaching her a few breathing exercises. She didn't argue or say anything as she simply nodded and went about her task, becoming progressively more frustrated when she couldn't focus. It was getting on her nerves. No matter how much she tried, her eyes kept opening slightly to look at him.

He had been leaning on the wall of the academy, book in hand but she knew he wasn't reading it. His eyes were glazed, as he looked at the book with that faraway look in his face as if he was deep in thought.

Thirty minutes after, Five had put his book away and walked to where she was seated. For a few seconds, she brightened up, thinking that now they might move onto learning how to use her powers, but there was no such luck.

He simply grabbed her hand and spatial jumped them to her room, very nearly vomiting on the rug.

In the morning she could barely get out of bed. She had to go through the day with great difficulty, having problems with small things like sitting or walking the stairs. Her body felt like it weighed a ton, and she dearly hoped Five wasn't planning to make her go through the same routine. With her bad luck, she should have known she wouldn't be that lucky.

That evening Five made her run two laps around the academy instead of three. Halfway through the laps, she wanted to fall down on her knees and cry, her legs just hurt too much from the night before. However, she managed to force herself to finish, a little shocked when some of the pain slowly went away. After she warmed up he thankfully only made her do a couple of exercises and then spent the remainder of the time stretching. Once again, Five didn't even so much as mention her powers.

For several days they pretty much stuck to the same regiment. Running around the academy, exercising, stretching and meditating. As the first week went by, she wondered if Five was going to take a day off, to just give her at least one day to let her muscles recover but it seems there was no such luck. Five didn't let her take a day off, insisting that they had to keep training, arguing that the Umbrella Academy has no day off when it comes to training. If she hopes to be one of them one day, she has to get used to that. After hearing that, Vanya was a little more motivated. She wasn't going to be weak.

She pushed herself in every exercise. Some days were harder than others, especially since she was no longer taking her pills regularly, putting her on edge. It was during those times that she realized that she indeed had powers as she felt them surrounding her. It was an exhilarating feeling as her very hands thrummed with energy. She wanted nothing more than to test them, to let them out and see what happened. However, every time she felt the urge to use her powers she remembered Five's warning, how volatile and dangerous they were and how she could easily lose control of them. And so she took in deep breaths, as he had instructed, whenever she felt her powers rise to the surface but never once tapping into it even though she wanted to, and that frightened her a little.

Bangs clinging to her forehead, Vanya completed her last set of push-ups for the evening.

Standing up, she turned and looked at Five, who was sitting on the stone steps, legs crossed, a physics textbook on one hand, a cup of coffee on the other.

"What now?" She asked, grabbing the towel hanging on a tree branch and wiping the sweat off her face.

Five didn't so much as look up from his book as he gestured at the fountain with the hand holding the coffee.

"Meditation."

Vanya bit back a groan, looking at Five as he took a sip of his coffee.

She was beyond annoyed by now. It's been a bit over a week and they still haven't talked about her powers, it was starting to get to her. To have such energy inside one's self, and yet not being able to use them was beyond frustrating.

' _You need to do everything I say. No arguments,'_ that was Five's fourth rule.

Sighing in defeat, she walked to her spot near the fountain, dragging her feet. She hated meditation, hated it with a passion. It was just a whole waste of time, and Five knew it. He didn't usually partake in her training, usually sitting down to read. However, there were a few times where he did join her, but never in meditation.

' _I don't need meditation, my powers are not dependent on whether or not I can control my emotions, unlike you.'_ He had argued, with his usual arrogant smile.

Still, she knew he didn't join her in meditation because he knew it was a waste of time.

Sitting on the ground, on top of a couple of dead leaves, she crossed her legs and took a deep breath, trying to get to a place of tranquillity. Yet another thing she didn't know how to do and Five hadn't exactly explained, not that he probably knew anything about meditation either. He simply handed her a book about it the day after she learned the truth. And a whole lot of help that book did her. She barely understood a thing it said. Breathing, and concentrating outwardly and not inwardly? She didn't get what all that meant? She didn't even know what she was doing, or if it was working. All she knew was that she was sitting there, no doubt looking a lot like an idiot, nowhere close to learning how to use her powers.

Taking another deep breath, she tried to calm down and do what the book had said. Focus on the outside world, try to sense your surroundings, _listen._

Breath even, she tried something she hadn't done before.

Focusing on the sounds around her, she tried to shut everything out.

After lowering her pill consumption, she learned that her hearing was something that had greatly improved. At first, it had been a little off-putting and overwhelming when she realized that she couldn't just hear slightly better, but beyond the levels of a normal person. From her room she could hear everything all her siblings were doing in their rooms, like every time Ben flipped a page on the novel he was reading, or Allison brushing her hair, Luther working on one of his airplane models, Diego scratching at his table with one of his knives, Five busy jotting things down on his notebook, and Klaus taking a drag from a cigarette. It was an interesting ability, but one she was frustrated with seeing as she couldn't turn it off, but maybe she wasn't supposed to. Maybe she should be using it for meditation.

Concentrating on the sounds, she took another deep breath. She could hear everything around her, from the crashing water from the fountain behind her, the cat hiding in the shadows far off in the distances, Five flipping the page on his textbook, to the sound of cars passing by the academy.

Frowning a little she concentrated on just one sound, trying to see if she can shut out the other sounds around her. Choosing the sound of the fountain, she focused on that seeing as it was the loudest one.

Unbeknownst to her, the wind around her began to slowly but steadily pick up, rustling the tree's leaves.

A smile forming on her lips, she was proud she had managed to shut out the other sounds and completely focused on the fountain, feeling giddy. Maybe this is what the book had meant that she would find peace if she stopped thinking inwardly.

Her excitement only prompted her to focus more on the new sound, causing the wind to pick up considerably. The branches on the tree close to her began to sway, threatening to snap at any second. Under her, the ground began to rumble. The dead leaves on the ground lifted up into the air and began to circle her. Vanya didn't notice any of that, far too focused on the one sound, feeling completely at ea-

"V-"

Vanya frowned. What was that? She wondered for a second, but then she sighed, ignoring it. Shaking her head she concentrated fully on the sound of the fountain.

"Van-" the sound came again, sounding more desperate, and Vanya's brows knit together. What was that sound? That sound that sounded a lot like…

"Vanya!" Five shouted, his voice trembling, sounding both scared and worried.

Concentration snapping, Vanya let out a sharp breath and her eyes snapped open.

Around her, the wind suddenly stopped for a second, enough for her to meet Five's terrified eyes. However, before she could ask what was wrong, the wind suddenly spread out like an explosion sending everything that wasn't bolted down flying, including Five.

"Five!" She shouted.

Five went hurling straight to the wall of the academy, his arms flinging as he tried to catch onto something before he broke his skull open on the stone wall.

Catching her breath, she watched him, thinking that he might not be able to stop his fall. However, before he could hit the wall, Five spatial jumped to the ground where he rolled several times before landing on his back, letting out a soft gasp.

Eyes widening, she sprang to her feet but before she could run to where Five laid, unmoving, a voice stopped her.

"What's going on here?" Growled a very angry voice that made her freeze.

Vanya looked up with frightened eyes, like a deer caught in headlights.

On the stone steps stood their father, the full strength of his scowl trained on her. Behind him were her siblings, looking at her both shocked and scared. That was when the full realization hit her.

What had she done?

* * *

There was so much on his mind. From the Handler's deal to Carmichael's, to teaching Vanya on how to use her powers to just trying to put an end to the apocalypse, he just couldn't catch a break.

That evening when Vanya first came to his room so they could start their training, he had looked at her confused, until he remembered that he promised to teach her to control her powers. He hadn't completely forgotten, of course, that afternoon he had gone to the library and took out a book on meditations. Now, in normal circumstances, he would scoff at the book and continue walking, not once touching the book, but in this case, he had no other choice. Emotions trigger Vanya's powers so he had to find a way to help her control them, and he had to start somewhere. He doubted telling her to just ignore her emotions would work as it does with him. In his case, it was easy, he could choose when to disconnect himself from his emotions. When the commission experimented on him, they had sought to sever all emotions, turning him into the perfect machine, but ultimately failed in the end. So what he ended up being was a cold-blooded killer but only if he wanted to be.

After the library, he had gone to the grocery store, and then well, he had his little talk with Carmichael. After the said meeting, the proposition that had just been made to him was at the forefront of his mind, causing him to forget everything else.

'Kill the Handler and we leave you alone, but without your memories.' That's what A.J had proposed.

It shocked him how he hadn't instantly abhorred, or outright refused the deal. A part of him, however small, saw the benefits of said deal. Without his memories, he would be able to go back to his thirteen-year-old self, able to live the years he missed, erase all those years stuck in the future all on his own, erase all those things he's done to get to where he is now, all the people he's killed. He wasn't kidding himself, every memory, after he left the academy, has been bleak, full of struggle and suffering, the only good memories he's had are those where he finally returned to his family. The idea that he had to live practically another lifetime with those memories made him feel older than he is, but then again, getting what you want in life isn't really part of the deal. As much as he may dislike his memories, he knows that he can't just turn his back on, basically, the whole world, Vanya and his family.

So if he wasn't going to take Carmichael's deal then that only left him with the Handler, who he knew would double-cross him in the end. Knowing her, she'll put him in an even tighter spot than he is now, especially if she has the whole commission backing her up.

Five wanted to pull his hair every time he considered the pros and cons of both deals. Neither one appealing, neither one a deal he could take. He had to face it, he was caught between a rock and a hard place, with no one to help him out.

His mind fully preoccupied with the decision he'll have to make in a month, he didn't pay as much attention to Vanya's training as he should have.

He had started her training with mostly just exercises, stretching and meditation, not one touching her powers. He had to make sure she could control her emotions before he moved on to them, not wanting her to lose control. He knew that exercises would keep her both too mentally and physically exhausted to be able to dwell on her emotions, at least that was the theory.

Days passed, and he knew she was getting more and more frustrated with her training, no doubt wondering why they hadn't so much as touched on the topic of her powers. Still, Five maintained his decision. It was too soon to train her to use her powers, he wanted to let a month go by and see the effects her training, and reductions of her pill intake has had on her. And besides, their father didn't start training them on how to use their powers until they were much older, after years of physical and mental training. He had, admittedly, been frustrated then, wanting to use his powers but now he understood. Vanya needed to train her body and mind before she can hope to control her powers.

After telling her to meditate by the fountain, as per usual, he went to sit on the stone steps, a textbook on one hand and coffee on the other.

It was a bit of a chilly night, winter is after all a month away. He didn't mind the cold so much, not when he had to survive years stranded on his own with no internal heating of any kind, just a small fire, and most of the time he didn't even have that. No, the cold didn't bother him anymore, what did bother him was the cold cooling his coffee.

Taking a sip of his cool coffee, he grimaced when something caught his eyes.

Looking up from his book, his eyes instantly widened when they landed on Vanya, his heart practically stopped.

Sitting cross-legged by the fountain, she had her eyes closed, a tranquil expression on her face. However, the wind around her was anything but tranquil.

Dead leaves were flying in a circle around her, picking up speed as the wind swirled around Vanya even faster, blissfully unaware that she was more or less creating a tornado around herself.

Well shit.

Hastily putting his book and coffee down, Five ran to where Vanya was sitting, needing to stop her before things got out of hand.

"Vanya!" He called his voice swallowed whole by the sound of leaves rustling, and the sharp howl of the wind.

As his hair was completely pushed back by the wind, Five raised arms to cover his face from the debris and tried to take a step forward but the air practically pushed him away, almost as if protecting Vanya.

Five squinted, not wanting any of the dirt to get in his eyes, as he looked at the situation.

What even happened? One second she was completely fine meditating, the next she was creating a tornado in the courtyard, no more than twenty feet away from the academy. The worst part was that she didn't even seem to notice what was happening, what she was causing.

Five groaned, pressing his feet onto the ground with all his strength before he got blown away, or pulled in. The tornado she was creating wasn't large enough to cause real damage, but unless he stopped it soon he feared it might grow big enough to be a problem for the academy, and maybe even the city.

"Vanya!" He called again, but his voice was instantly muffled by the sound of the wind.

"Damn it!" he growled at the wind, looking around for any ideas.

He knew spatial jumping to where she was sitting was pointless, the wind would just expel him before he even got to her.

Hearing a deep, loud groan coming from the tree near the fountain, Five looked at it, eyes widening in shock.

The old tree was swaying as if it were a young tree with weak, small roots. Even more shocking was that the thick roots were slowly being pulled from the ground as the wind grew more and more powerful.

Panic rising, he looked at Vanya once more, who was still sitting cross-legged, blissfully unaware, he knew he needed to stop this now.

Jaw clenching, brows knit together, he took in a deep breath and put as much power behind his voice to call her name.

"VANYA!"

As if pulling the plug on a device, the wind suddenly stood still as Vanya finally opened her eyes.

Five was halfway between a relieved sigh when the wind around Vanya exploded.

He didn't even have the time to spatial jump out of the way as he was flung into the air and towards the academy, letting out a loud humph of surprise.

Eyes wide, he tried to rotate in the air, trying to grab onto something but coming up empty. Heart rate increasing, he knew he needed to stop his descent before he crashed against the wall, and so, with no other choice he spatial jumped to the ground.

He groaned when he landed on his shoulder, hearing a sharp pop before he rolled several times on the ground until finally, he landed on his back, the back of his head hitting the stone ground of the courtyard and everything went black.

* * *

"Training number seven behind my back," the very familiar voice of Reginald fumed.

Mind groggy, Five's brows furrowed before he opened his eyes, blinking a couple of times to adjust to the light coming from the window. Once they did, he turned his head but then stopped when a sharp needle-like pain stabbed the back of his head.

Taking in a sharp breath, prominent lines sprouted between his eyebrows, as his eyes squeezed shut, his teeth bared from the pain.

His head felt like it was being pounded on by a hammer, and never mind the sharp needle-like pain at the back of his head where all the pain originated from. But despite his obvious pain and discomfort, his father didn't stop reprimanding him.

"That has to undoubtedly be the worst decision you have made, number five."

Slowly, Five opened his eyes and met his father's very angry ones.

"I would disagree," he groaned, taking a deep breath to try to ease the pain in his head. "But it is a close second."

Reginald huffed.

"You foolish boy, you-"

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Five glared at him. "I'm fifty-eight years old, so stop patronizing me." he hissed.

Leaning back on his seat, his father raised his chin.

"If you insist on behaving like a child, then you will be treated like one."

Five clenched his jaw but bit back any retort he may have. There was no reason in arguing with his father, knowing they would probably go back and forth and never reach the end of it. And besides, he was right. He should have told him that he was planning on training Vanya, as was the plan. He knew he couldn't do it alone, and even though their father wasn't going to be winning the best father of the year award, he was the most suited to train Vanya. Their father no doubt had extensive notes about her powers, and at some point, he had tried to teach her control, so he could try to use his past knowledge to train her this time around. However, getting his father onboard on training her was another matter entirely, which is why he decided to keep her training a secret.

Taking a deep breath, he let out a long sigh and looked up, preferring to look at the bland ceiling than him.

"Where's Vanya?" He asked.

When his father didn't answer right away, Five felt a knot form in the pit of his stomach.

Turning to look at Reginald, he stared coldly at him.

"Please tell me you didn't put her inside that blasted prison you got under the house."

He was really, really hoping his father wasn't that stupid, that he hadn't put Vanya inside the very thing that caused her to lose control in the future. However, knowing his father, he no doubt put her there and that made fear rise up inside him, half expecting the house to crumble around them any second now.

Reginald raised a brow.

"You know about that then?"

Five scoffed.

"I know a lot of things," he growled.

Reginald didn't say anything as he seemed to consider him, no doubt noticing the nervousness in his face.

Unable to stay lying down, Five sat himself up and propped his back against the headboard, groaning and nearly losing consciousness in the process.

"Where is she then?" He asked, his voice coming out ragged from the exertion.

Just when he had finally healed from his previous injury, he was back to square one. Now, what the hell was he supposed to do about the commission?

Closing his eyes briefly, he worried about the matter at hand.

"She's on the other side of the academy, under Pogo's watchful eyes."

Five nodded.

Good, that meant that she was far enough away so that she couldn't overhear them, which is no doubt what his father also wanted.

Leaning forward, Reginald eyed him, concern flashed in his eyes, something he hadn't ever seen on his father.

Five tensed.

"How much does number seven know?"

Five scoffed. Of course, he would worry about that, but then again, so would he.

"If you're worried she knows everything you did to her, don't"

He turned to look out the window, wincing from the pain. It was sunny outside, the sun high in the sky which meant that the time was somewhere in the afternoon. When he hit his head he must have fallen unconscious, and by the itchy, tight, painful cut at the back of his head, he must have received a few stitches.

"I kept the truth from her, and told her she recently developed her powers instead."

"Why?" His father quickly asked, sounding genuinely surprised that he lied to Vanya, no doubt understanding his reasoning. Well, for a cold-hearted, logical bastard like him, something like protecting her from the truth must make no sense, so he had to be logical in his answer too.

"Because the truth hurt too much? because she's not ready for it? because she might lose control if she learned the truth? Take your pick," he huffed, turning to look at him.

For a few seconds, there was a moment of silence as they looked at each other.

"It's number seven who causes the apocalypse in the future, isn't she?" His father broke the silence, his voice even, as if he was asking what the weather was going to be tomorrow and not whether or not one of the children he adopted is responsible for ending all life on earth.

Five sighed and closed his eyes, turning to face the ceiling, not at all surprised.

He had been trying to avoid this very moment, trying to plan out the best moment and way to break the news to him. His father needed to know the truth, knowing he would no doubt figure out the truth regardless, just like he did now.

"Yes," he answered softly, opening his eyes

"But she doesn't have to," he quickly added, looking at his father. "Yes, Vanya is the bomb, she will always be the bomb." He said the same words he said before, knowing them to be true.

No matter what he does, even if he managed to train Vanya, she will always be a bomb waiting to go off, it was just in the nature of her power. She could be in a very stressful situation that causes her to snap, or injured enough that her powers take control of her, or she could just have a tantrum. The point was that anything could set her off, so his job was to make sure nothing did.

"Then what do you propose?" Reginald asked nonchalantly.

Five's brows flew up, shocked that he was taking this all too well, it made him feel uneasy. He had expected the old man to suggest they simply kill Vanya and stop the threat.

"Well, It's rather simple isn't it?" Five cocked his head. "We'll just have to defuse her."

' _We cannot stop the apocalypse from happening. Nothing will change.'_ That's what Carmichael had said, but to hell with him. He couldn't stop the apocalypse? He wasn't going to take no for an answer, even if he had to try again and again. He wasn't to let it happen, no matter what.

"Sure, she'll be a bomb but what good is a bomb if it can't blow up?" He reasoned.

His father frowned a little, but there was otherwise no look of disapprovement at his logic, in fact, it looked like he was almost accepting what he said. What he said next had Five's mouth falling open in surprise.

"Alright."

For a long, while Five just sat there, looking at his father and wondering if it was truly him, the Sir Reginald Hargreeves, sitting there, being completely reasonable and not outright shutting down his proposition.

"You seem shocked." His father said, quirking a brow.

Five blinked, re-gathering himself.

"I just never expected you to accept so… easily."

"What were you expecting?"

Five shrugged.

"I don't know, nothing short of killing Vanya perhaps?"

His father hummed and leaned back on his seat, regarding him.

"You must consider me so heartless to think that I would just order the death of number Seven."

Five cocked his head, and raised a brow, not saying he was wrong.

"Can you blame me?" He asked. "you locked her away and drugged her for years."

Reginald nodded, not disagreeing with him.

"Perhaps, but you forget something," his father leaned forward. "I could have just kept her locked up."

Five scoffed and raised a brow.

"So what? You did what you did to her out of the goodness of your own heart, is that what you're telling me?"

His father leaned back and twined his fingers.

"Not exactly. I knew a cage was a temporary fix. She would get out one way or another."

Five gave out a sardonic chuckle and shook his head, only to wince when he felt a sharp needle-like pain at the back of his head.

"Regardless, I am not the villain you make me out to be, who would just kill a child."

Eyes on the ceiling, Five froze upon hearing his words.

That made Five tense, tense because he had.

His father had been unwilling to kill a small, defenceless child, the man he thought didn't have one ounce of compassion inside him. While he had targeted and killed innocent people, children, all for the _greater good_. Does that make him a worse man than his father? The very man he never wanted to become?

However, what his father had said was true, he could have just killed Vanya but didn't, that means something.

"It did occur to me." He admitted softly, feeling like a monster.

He felt his father's eyes on him, expecting him to say how disappointed he was of him, but he thankfully decided not to ask further on the matter. Instead, he rose up from his chair and made his way to the door.

"You're no good to anyone being bedridden," he huffed, gaining back that disapproving sound in his voice. "Rest for now, but once you're healed we'll talk further on the matt-"

"Wait," Five snapped his head towards the door. Thankfully, his father stopped and looked at him. "Why are you agreeing with me so easily?"

Hand on the doorknob, Reginald raised a brow.

"Your plan is reasonable and logical, do you think I wouldn't agree to it out of spite?"

Yes, Five thought. And would have said it too had he not realized that maybe he had judged the old man harshly.

"Then why are you angry at me for training her?" He asked, confused.

Reginald raised his chin, looking down on him.

"Because, as I told you already number five, your arrogance in seeking to do everything alone is and shall always be your greatest weakness," he growled, sounding disappointed. "If you hadn't so foolishly kept the truth of number seven's role in the apocalypse, and how we might prevent it, then the courtyard wouldn't be half destroyed."

Five cocked his head, eyes wide.

"But the courtyard is of no concern," his father waved his hand. "What would have happened if number seven had lost control? What would have happened to the academy, to the city?" He asked with a bark.

Once again, the room fell silent.

For the first time in many years, Five was at a loss for words, his mouth opening and closing, feeling a lot like a child.

Reginald huffed.

"Only collectively can you succeed number five, remember that every time you feel the impulse to do something foolish again," Reginald scolded, nose flaring. Not saying another word, his father turned and opened the door, but once again Five stopped him.

"I need to talk to Vanya," he requested.

Turning his head to look at him over his shoulder, his father's brows pulled together.

"Number seven will remain in-"

"Right now she's probably hating herself for what happened. If I don't talk to her it might affect her willingness to use her powers in the future and then she'll never learn to use them," he argued. He knew he needed to be logical with his father, if he said that he was just worried about Vanya he would say no again.

For a long while, Reginald considered what he said before he turned his head and stepped out of his room.

"I'll have Pogo bring her," was all he said before closing the door.

* * *

Vanya was sitting on the couch, leaning down, her face in her hands. On and on, the memory of Five being thrown halfway across the courtyard, falling unconscious, blood pooling around his head, the face of his shocked, scared siblings, and the angry scowl of her father kept running in repeat in her head.

What had she done? She kept asking herself.

How could she have lost control like that? No. How could she have lost control like that and not realized it?

She had just focused on the sound, but in her foolishness, she had hurt Five, scared her siblings, and made her father so incredibly angry that his face turned bright red. Even Pogo, the one who was always nice to them, always supporting them, looked at her with shock and fear. And all because she had focused on the sounds around her.

Is this her power? Such a volatile, dangerous thing that could hurt someone so easily and destroy everything around her by just focusing on one, stupid sound? If that's the case then she doesn't want it, doesn't want anything to do with it, not when she had hurt Five with it.

After Luther grabbed Five and took him to the infirmary, their father had barked at her to follow him.

She did, keeping her head low and shaking from fear. As she passed her siblings, they stared at her but she didn't meet their eyes.

After her father took her to a sitting room on the opposite side of the academy from her bedroom, he hadn't said a word or even looked at her as he turned and left, banging the door shut.

And there she remained for hours, wondering if Five was alright? If she had killed him? what might happen to her now? would they kick her out of the academy? Would they fear her so much that they would dispose of her like one of those villains in their comic books?

When the door to the sitting-room opened, she nearly leaped out of her seat.

"Miss Vanya, your brother is asking for your presence," Pogo said, standing by the door.

Rising to her feet, Vanya looked at him, her eyes red from crying.

"Five?" She asked bewildered, surprised that he was awake and wanted to see her after what she did.

Pogo nodded.

Vanya didn't say anything as she wiped the tears of her eyes and followed him.

"I-is he alright?" She asked as they walked up the stairs.

Pogo nodded and looked up at her, giving her a reassuring smile.

"He just needed a few stitches, but otherwise, he's fine."

Her breath hitched.

Just a few stitches? Pogo said that like it was no big deal like it's normal for someone to send another person flying in the air and causing them to crack their head open.

Seeming to know what she was thinking, Pogo hummed.

"If I recall, master Luther once sent master Diego to the infirmary after breaking three of his ribs, and partially puncturing his lung in the process when he hit him a little too hard during training."

Vanya wanted to argue that it was different because they had been training, but she just nodded and kept walking.

When they finally arrived at Five's room, Pogo gestured for her to go in.

For a few seconds Vanya just stared at the door afraid to go in. She knew Five would be angry at her and he had every right to be, but if she saw the same fear in his eyes like her other siblings she wasn't sure what she would do.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and walked in.

Hearing the door open, Five turned his attention away from the window and looked at her and Vanya took in a sharp breath.

His head was bandaged, his bangs flopping over them, messy. He didn't look as bad as he had before, but the fact that it was she who had caused that injury made it worse.

"Vany-"

Before he could finish, and before she even knew it, she flung herself at him.

Five let out a surprised humph as she wrapped her arms around him, resting her face on his chest, tears sliding down her cheeks and onto his shirt.

"Oh Five, I'm so sorry," she cried.

Under her, Five was tense but he didn't push her away, he just laid there, no doubt uncomfortable at having someone crying into his chest. But she couldn't bring herself to care as the tears kept flowing.

"I did this to you I-" she closed her eyes tightly, remembering how she had sent Five flying, the look of fear and shock he had looked at her when she did. "I'm never going to use my powers again, I-"

Before she could finish, Five grabbed her by her arms and pushed her away softly. Pulling away, Vanya sniffed and looked at him expecting to see the anger in his eyes, but instead, she was met with his usual, cocky smile.

"Don't be ridiculous Vanya," he reprimanded her, not seeming at all mad. "Losing control was bound to happen, I'm just glad you stopped before things got out of hand."

For a long while, Vanya just stared at him with wide eyes, wondering if she had heard right? Five wasn't blaming her for what happened? He wasn't mad? Even after what she did to him? How can that be?

Sighing, Five's brows pulled together, his smile falling

"But I did, however, tell you to meditate, not to use your powers," he scolded.

Vanya opened and closed her mouth. He was angry that she had disobeyed his instructions rather than being thrown in the air like a rag doll and cracking his head open?

"Sorry, I didn't know what I was doing, I thought I was just meditating. I didn't know this would happen," she spluttered.

Five's eyes narrowed and he gave her a pointed look, but then he deflated and nodded.

"I suppose I'm to blame."

Vanya's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to tell him that it wasn't, how he could think that? But then he spoke again.

"I told you to meditate, not once warning you to not focus on the sounds around yo-"

"Five!" She interrupted, her voice louder than she intended. "I sent you flying halfway across the courtyard. If you hadn't spatial jumped in time you might have died!"

Her shoulder shook as she began to cry again, unable to keep her tears back. Outside clouds covered the sun, sending the bright sunny day into a gloomy, stormy day. As the rain began to fall, drops hammering against the window, the bed under them began to shake, the wooden floor groaned.

What was wrong with her?

Feeling herself slipping, but unable to control it, she felt fear rise up inside her, until she felt a warm hand on her cheek.

"Vanya," five called her name softly.

Opening her eyes, she looked at him, her surroundings stopped shaking somewhat.

Eyes meeting, she didn't see any anger, fear, or judgment behind them. Unable to stop herself, her face scrunched up and she sank her head against his chest again as she continued to cry. The floor and the bed stopped shaking, but the rain remained, beating on the window with a steady rhythm.

As she cried she kept whispering how sorry she was, how she hadn't meant for it to happen. Five never said anything, he simply placed his hand at the back of her head and stayed quiet, allowing her to cry on him, staining his shirt with tears.

Once she had no more tears to shed, and she stopped hiccuping, the rain stopped falling outside the academy, but the clouds remained.

Taking a deep calming breath, wrinkling her stuffy nose, she looked out the window.

"Is this what my powers can do?" She asked softly, her voice hoarse from all the crying.

Under her Five took in a deep breath.

"This is only but a small sample, but yes." He looked down at her and she met his eyes, looking at her with the same non-judgmental look. "This is what your powers can do."

Turning to look at the window, she separated herself from him and took in a shaky breath.

"If that's the case, then I don't want them." She sniffed, keeping her eyes on the window, knowing that if she looked at him she would change her mind about what she was going to say. "I'll go back to taking the pills regularly."

She shook her head, determined.

"I won't ever use my powers again."

"Vanya…" Five began, but Vanya snapped her head towards him.

"No Five, you don't understand," she placed her hands on her chest. "What I did, what I can do without even realizing it, it scares me!" She pointed at the door. "What if I hurt someone again? Or what if instead of hurting someone, I end up killing someone?"

For a long few seconds, they both stared at each other, with Five just frowning, looking at her thoughtfully before he answered.

"Vanya," he said softly as if trying not to scare her. "These powers, they're part of you now. Even if you subdue them with the pills, they'll still be there."

Vanya opened her mouth to argue but Five continued.

"We're not like other people, Vanya. To the outside world…" Five shook his head. "We're just freaks wearing masks. Sure they may turn us into celebrities, but we're not like them."

Five rose up, propping himself against the headboard to better look at her.

"These powers, for whatever reason, we were granted them and they are as much part of us as anything else. If we turn away from them, then what are we?"

Vanya blinked a couple of times, unsure as to what to say.

"Luther's super strength, Diego's trajectory manipulation, Allison's rumour, Klaus's ability to talk to the dead, my ability to bend space and time, Ben's tentacles… these powers is what makes us who we are and now it's also part of you too."

Waving his hand, Five smirked.

"Sure, it's scary. But these things always are at first." He said, tilting his head. "When I was learning to control my spatial jumps I was often scared of ending up somewhere I really didn't want to be. Like in the middle of oncoming traffic, or below ground."

Her eyes widened.

"That's terrifying," she whispered, genuinely scared, and surprised that he was admitting that he had been scared to use his powers at first.

She imagined how terrifying not knowing where you might end up if you used your powers could be. Five could have spatial jumped up in the sky and fallen to his death for all he knew, and yet he still used his powers.

He nodded in agreement.

"So how did you overcome your fear?"

Five shrugged.

"The thought that I needed to control my powers, not the other way around I suppose."

Vanya nodded, his words resounding within her. Maybe Five did have a point.

Cocking her head, she looked at him.

"What about time travel? Are you scared of it?"

Five tensed at that, his jaw clenching and she had her answer, not that she didn't already know.

A few days back she asked him if he could now control his time travelling abilities, to which he responded;

' _If I could I would have returned a long time ago.'_

So she asked him why he doesn't practice it? Not that she wanted him to, she was just as scared that he might get stuck in the future again, but she did suggest that he might be able to control it with their dad's help. However, he just waved her away and told her that it was pointless, and far too dangerous, noticing how much his shoulders tensed and she knew then, that he was scared to time travel.

"That is completely different. Time travel doesn't just require skills, it requires knowledge, formulas, it's not easy," Five explained waving his hand, but she could hear the underlying nervousness in his voice as well as fear.

"Yea but-"

"Vanya," he snapped.

Vanya shut her mouth tightly closed and looked down at her hands. She knew she shouldn't push him on the matter, knowing that time travel is a difficult subject for him, and for good reasons.

Letting out a long sigh, Five rubbed his temple and she looked at him once more.

"If I promise to learn to control my time travelling abilities, will you learn to control your powers?"

Vanya frowned. That's not what she wanted, she didn't want to push him to use an ability he clearly didn't want to use.

"Five, that's not-"

"It's a yes or no answer, Vanya."

Lips forming into a tight line, she thought about it. If she said yes she might be able to control her powers one day, but at what risk? What if she never gained control over them? What if she lost control? But at the same time, Five had enough hope in her that he was willing to put himself through training he didn't want.

Vanya shook her head.

"But what about dad?" She asked, avoiding the question. "I saw how angry he was, he won't just let you keep training me."

As per his usual, Five snorted and smirked defiantly, not at all fazed by their father's wrath.

"Believe me, he's angrier at me than you." He cocked his head. "And besides, after having a talk with him, he agreed to teach you."

Shocked, thrilled, and even sad that Five wasn't going to be her teacher anymore, her brows raised, mouth falling open.

"Really?"

"Yup, but don't worry," he leaned back on the headboard. "I'll still be involved in the training process."

He looked at her, a wide smile on his lips.

"So what's it gonna be Vanya?"

Sighing, she looked down at her hands then back at him. She had every right to fear her powers, never wanting to use them but maybe Five was right. Whether she likes it or not, her powers are a part of her now.

Taking in a deep breath, she answered.

"Alright."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just love how I won't let Five go through one chapter without having something blow up in his face.
> 
> And what's this, is Reginald being somewhat reasonable for once? To be honest, I know a lot of people dislike his character, I mean he put all the Hargreeves children through such a traumatic childhood, but he's not an evil man. Sure, he was unreasonably tough on the Hargreeves but I think he did it because he genuinely believed that they could save the planet one day, and hey he wasn't wrong… well in one account at least.
> 
> Also, there's the fact that Reginald is a highly logical individual. If something sounds logical to him, then I see no reason why he wouldn't accept Five's explanation. Five knows what's going to happen in the future, he knows how to prevent it, which put one over Reginald and Reginald knows it.
> 
> There is also, the fact that Reginald hadn't just killed Vanya when he should have. She's dangerous, and he was taking a gamble by taking her powers away. That says a lot about his character.
> 
> Before I go, I want to say that Vanya seems really weak and kind of a crybaby at the moment, but I promise that she won't always be. She will gain her confidence and strength, but it will take her some time.
> 
> Thank you again for everyone's support, and for reading this story!


	11. The first day of training

The next morning, after she woke up from mom ringing the bell, she stared at the ceiling for a long few seconds. For some reason, she had half expected everything to be different, even the very act of waking up.

The day before, after promising that she would try to use her powers again, Vanya spent the next few hours in Five's room, not doing anything in particular. She just sat beside him, watching over him as she read one of the few fictional novels he had on his shelf, while he slept, exhausted from the events of the day. It was rather peaceful and almost therapeutic to just sit there, listening to his rhythmic, soft breathing. Unfortunately, that peaceful atmosphere couldn't last as Pogo softly opened the door and told her that her father wanted to talk to her.

Breathing stopping, eyes widening, heart hammering in her chest, she looked from Pogo then back to Five who was still sleeping, not wanting to leave but knowing that she had to. With a resigned sigh, she put the book down and followed Pogo out the room, giving Five one last look before she left.

At first, she had been beyond scared and nervous, thinking that perhaps this is when he'll decide to kick her out of the academy or do something as equally drastic. The only thing that kept her somewhat calm was what Five had said.

' _He agreed to teach you.'_

So as she sat there, on the seat in front of his father's desk, gripping her skirt tightly, she couldn't help but feel scared.

When her father strode inside the office she shrank in on herself, her eyes barely meeting his. However, her father didn't even seem to notice her nervousness and fear, not that he ever noticed anything about them, he just went about reprimanding her for destroying the courtyard and injuring Five with a stern voice.

Wincing, she hadn't said a word as she simply nodded, knowing that this was when she was going to find out what her punishment was going to be.

However, as she sat there, waiting, her father never once spoke about any punishments. Instead, he told her about her change in schedule, and routine, not at all shocked that she, the ordinary one out of her entire family, has developed powers strong enough to nearly kill Five, and destroy everything around her. And yet, he was just sweeping it under the rug for a lack of a better word, like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Hearing the insistent bell getting louder and louder outside her room, Vanya sighed and got out of bed.

She quickly changed into her uniform. Before she exited her room she grabbed a new pill container she got from mom yesterday, telling her with a smile that they were the same pills, just with significantly less dosage. Instructing her to take one every two days before she left.

Popping one inside her mouth, she swallowed them without water, long used to taking her medication without it.

Ready for the day she exited her room and waited by her door like the rest of her siblings, siblings who she felt were all staring at her.

Slowly turning her head, worried in seeing the same expression of fear and shock in their faces like she had the day before, she looked at them, somewhat relieved when she didn't see any fear in their eyes but she could still see the shock and confusion there.

She didn't blame them. They had watched her practically destroy the courtyard, and hurt Five with powers they didn't even know she had.

"Vanya," Allison called.

Looking at her only sister, Vanya met her confused eyes.

"Wha-"

"Now that we're already children, let's go have breakfast. The most important meal of the day!" Mom sang, her permanent smile on her lips as she interrupted Allison.

Walking towards the direction of the dining room, Vanya gave Allison a, we'll-talk-later look and filed in line with the others as they made their way to the dining room.

As they passed by the stairs to the attic, where Ben's and Five's room was located, Ben walked down them and slipped inside the line, giving her a worried look as he did.

Looking at the empty stairs, she sighed and looked ahead. She knew Five wasn't likely to be joining them for breakfast, probably needing to stay in bed for a few days. For the hundredth time, Vanya felt guilty that his current state was entirely her fault.

Mood gloaming, as she dwelled on her self pity she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a soft pop, followed by a blue flare of light in front of Ben. Even Ben hadn't expected Five, as he stopped, and looked at Five who had suddenly appeared in front of him, taking his place.

For a long second, both she and Ben looked at Five who nonchalantly kept walking behind Klaus, who hadn't even noticed anything seeing as he was wearing his headphones, bobbing in along with the music.

Still wearing his head bandage, but hair still more tidy than yesterday which he had clearly combed this morning, he wore the uniform, but on his hand, he had a cup of no doubt coffee which he was slowly sipping from.

Confused, concerned and angry at Five she looked at him with a cowl, following after Ben.

What was he doing here? Shouldn't he be resting? Why couldn't he just stay in his room rather than push himself, as per usual? Unable to ask him any of those questions, seeing as they weren't to talk as they made their way to the dining room, much less while eating, she bit her tongue and looked at Five watchfully in case he started to show any signs of illness.

When they reached the dining table, she had pointedly kept staring at Five who kept ignoring her.

Walking into the dining room, they all turned to look at their father as usual and took their seats when he ordered, and began to eat. However, all through breakfast she kept giving Five sideway looks, trying to catch his attention. Finally, he turned to look at her and gave her that same reassuring smile and continued to eat.

Shaking her head, exasperated, she did the same. He should be sleeping.

After breakfast, they all went to the classroom for their everyday classes with Pogo. And seeing as Five had to keep up his façade, he also accompanied them even though he really didn't need the classes. She wondered why he didn't just tell the others, but he insisted that they weren't ready for the truth, and she knew that if Five had it his way they never would be.

Sitting in class, she kept trying to pay as much attention as possible but kept getting distracted by every single small sound, like the scratching sound everyone's pens made as they wrote. The sound of Klaus tapping his finger against the desk, following a rhythm. The sound of clothes rustling as people shifted on the spot. The teeth grinding sound of chalk making contact with the blackboard as Pogo wrote. It was completely maddening.

Feeling someone nudge her foot, she looked up from her notebook and to the side, where Ben was sitting. Ben, however, wasn't looking at her as he extended his hand under his desk, two slips of paper between his fingers.

Frowning, she leaned forward and took them from his hand. Unfolding the first one, she quickly recognized Allison's handwriting.

_Are you alright?_

Vanya looked up from the paper and looked at the back of Allison's head. Even though she didn't turn around to look at her, Allison must have known that she had her eyes on her as her shoulders tensed.

Looking back down at the paper, she re-read the note. She was a little confused by Allison's worry. She never really expressed any concern towards her, in fact, they barely spent any time together or even spoke to one another. Vanya never took it personally, their personalities are complete opposites. And though she's never been mean to her, at least not outright, she was a little shocked that she had been concerned about her, something she's never done. But then again she never gave any of her siblings a reason to be concerned about her. Could it be that they did worry about her?

Folding the paper, she unfolded the other piece one that belonged to Ben.

_If you need someone to talk to, you can always talk to me._

The edges of her lips quirked up, and she looked at the back of Ben's head, noticing how his ears instantly reddened.

Unlike Allison, she wasn't at all shocked by Ben's note. He always was the nicest to her than all her other siblings, even Five. Sure she and Five have always been close even from a young age, something she was glad hadn't changed despite him being fifty-eight years old, but Five was Five even with her. Ben though, was always nice, to all of them.

Folding the note she put them both under her notebook and continued to pay attention to Pogo's lecture.

The hour seemed to pass so slow as Pogo continued to drone on, and she felt her eyelids drifting close, bored out of her mind and she wasn't the only one as the others also seemed just as bored.

Chin resting on the palm of her hand, her eyes finally drifted close when something hit her softly on the forehead.

Blinking rapidly, looking around the room, startled, she noticed that nothing was amiss, except of course for the crumpled up ball of paper on her desk.

Frowning, she looked at the only culprit that she knew could have thrown it, Diego.

Letting out a soft huff, she was about to throw the ball of paper in the trash can when she noticed some writing. Unravelling the ball, she read the small note Diego had written for her.

_What's going on?_

She looked at the back of Diego's head who turned to meet her eyes over his shoulder just as Pogo turned his back on them.

Diego raised a brow as if asking, well?

Before she could find a way to answer, Pogo turned to face them which Diego somehow knew and quickly turned before he noticed.

Shaking her head, she concentrated on the lecture hoping that everyone was done sending her notes before Pogo caught on to what they were doing and gave them more homework as punishment. Of course, there was no such luck.

Leaning back on his chair, Klaus raised his arms up, pretending to stretch them when in fact he did it to drop a long piece of paper rolled into a tight cylinder on her desk.

Rolling her eyes, Vanya grabbed the paper tube and unwrapped it, reading the note Klaus had written for her.

_Vany? :( :(_

Vanya looked at Klaus who was busy doodling on his notebook rather than taking any notes, or even listening to the lecture.

Sighing, Vanya put the note under her notebook with the others. It was clear that all her siblings, who were clearly left entirely in the dark about the whole thing, were worried about what happened. She honestly had no idea how much they had seen, but apparently enough to both scare and worry them, but really, they shouldn't be worrying about her, she hadn't been the one to hit her head so hard that she needed stitches.

Looking up from her book, she looked at Five who was sitting in front of her, when she noticed that Klaus had passed him a note too. Of course, Five didn't even look at it as he crumpled it up and threw it back at Klaus without so much as looking up from his notebook. Klaus, who never took anything too seriously, simply leaned back on his chair, crossed his arms and pouted.

After their class ended, they were all led back to their rooms for a break, which by break really meant time to do their homework. They still are very much grounded for what happened at the bowling alley.

Sitting by her desk, she took out her geography homework so she could get it over with when the door creaked open. For a brief second, she thought it was Five, being the only one who would disregard their punishment, however when she realized that Five would have just spatial jumped to her room, her brows knit together and she turned to face the door.

The door had only been slightly opened, enough for her visitor to slip through the crack and then close it.

Vanya blinked, looking at who she least expected to come to her room. Allison was leaning back on her door as if worried that someone had followed her.

"Allison?" Vanya frowned, looking from Allison to the door. "How did you get past Pogo?"

After the bowling alley Pogo or mom would patrol the hallways, making sure that they weren't sneaking into each other's room to socialize. Even during night time, mom would stand watch, which wasn't so difficult for her seeing as she needed no sleep.

Allison turned her head to look at her.

"I rumoured him," she answered, but didn't sound as confident.

Vanya raised her brows.

"You rumoured him?"

Hadn't Allison learned her lesson about rumouring Pogo or much less dad from the last time she tried? None of them knew how, but one way or another, Pogo and dad would always find out if they had been subjected to Allison's powers. In the end, they always did, and Allison would get in very deep trouble. For Allison to risk getting in trouble meant that she had a very important reason for doing it.

"Allison, you know Pogo will find out, he always does," she sighed.

Her sister waved her hand.

"I know, I know," she sighed, pressing the back of her head on the door. "But I needed to talk to you."

Vanya's brows curved, surprised. Allison wanted to talk to her? Why? Sure, she was clearly worried for her given her note this morning, but Allison's never went out of her way to make sure she was alright. They may be sisters but she and Allison are not close at all, being the least favourite sibling in both their cases. Could it be that what she had seen in the courtyard scared her enough that she was worried about her?

Pushing herself off the door after a few seconds, confident that no one else had seen her sneak inside, Allison took a step forward, a worried frown forming as she looked at her.

"What happened Vanya?" She asked, her voice soft, sounding genuinely concerned.

Letting out a long sigh, Vanya looked down at her hands. She really didn't want to talk about it, at least not yet.

"I-well-it's difficult," she said, hoping it was enough to convince Allison. Of course, her sister rarely took no for an answer.

Crossing her arms, Allison shifted her weight on one leg, getting comfortable.

"We have at least an hour before Pogo figures out I rumoured him."

In defeat, Vanya sat back on her bed and sighed, unsure as to where to start, what to even tell her. A lot of the story was not hers to give, like Five's real age, his time in the future, so she formed a very abbreviated version of the story in her head.

"A few weeks ago," she took a deep breath, deciding to start with something Allison already knew. "I learned that I have powers."

Allison's reaction was one of genuine shock, that it completely surprised Vanya.

"WHAT?!" Allison practically shouted, unfolding her arms, her eyes wide, brows raised, completely surprised, and Vanya was no different.

Hadn't she been there when she sent Five flying across the courtyard? How could she be surprised? Did she honestly think that it had been some fluke? A freak of natu-

Eyes widening, Vanya realized that all her siblings must have run into the courtyard right when Five hit the ground, and therefore didn't know how he had ended up there, how it was her fault. That also meant that she had completely misinterpreted their reactions. Their fear and shock weren't targeted at her, but at the entire situation that no doubt made no sense to them.

Upon realizing that her siblings didn't fear her, she felt like a load was taken off her shoulders as she could finally breathe properly. But at the same time, it complicated the story she had formed in her head for Allison. She had a lot of explaining to do.

"Well.."

As she began telling her what happened, Allison pulled out her desk chair and sat on it, facing her.

Vanya started by lying to her by telling her that she figured out she had powers, rather than tell her the truth that five told her. She then went on to tell her how Five found out one day and she asked him to teach her how to control her powers, until two nights ago when everything went horribly wrong. Not once did she blame Five, always putting the blame on herself.

After she was done, Allison let the whole story sink in for a few seconds, before she spoke.

"And you just learned about them now?" Allison's eyes narrowed, sounding a little skeptical.

"Yea, I guess I'm a bit of a late bloomer," she shrugged, but then brightened up. "But can you believe it?"

She allowed a little bit of excitement to pass through her voice despite everything that's happened. "I'm not ordinary!"

Allison however, did not share her excitement, quite the opposite.

Upon hearing her words, Allison instantly froze her eyes searching her face, a deep frown dominated her expression as if deep in thought.

Vanya's smile fell. Did she say something wrong?

"Is something wrong?" She asked with a whisper, unsure.

Blinking a couple of times, as if confused, Allison tilted her head.

"Huh?"

Seeming to catch herself, Allison shook her head and smiled.

"No, no, it's nothing I just…" She gestured at her. "Can't believe you have powers."

There was an underlying tone of worry? In her voice, but Vanya didn't pay any attention to it as she beamed.

"I know, I can't believe it either!"

After a few awkward seconds of just looking at each other, unsure as to where to take the conversation, Allison gestured at her once more, thankfully breaking the silence.

"So I guess you can be one of us now, right?"

"I guess, maybe," she shrugged. She wasn't too sure if she'll be a member of the Umbrella Academy, at least not if she can't ever control her powers.

Allison jumped up in her chair a little, a broad smile on her lips.

"I hope so!"

Again, that was really not the reaction she had expected from her sister, and Vanya frowned. She thought that out of all her siblings, Allison wouldn't want her in the team.

Being the only girl on a team full of boys, she was always the centre of attention. The media absolutely loved her, due to her fearlessness, and just the overall natural ease she had around cameras. Her brothers were just as brave, but they were boys. Allison being a girl was elevated above them, and she doubted she wanted to share that spot with anyone. However, it seems that she had misjudged her sister.

"It'll be nice to have another girl on the team!" She smiled, relieved. Pointing to the door, Allison continued. "I mean, do you even know what it's like being around that much testosterone?" Allison screwed her face in disgust, making a gagging motion and Vanya chuckled.

Yes, it seems that she had clearly misjudged her, but she couldn't be blamed. This is the most they've spoken in, well, since they were toddlers she figured.

Leaning back on her seat, Allison cocked her head as she looked at her.

"So?" She asked, a small smile forming on her lips.

Vanya frowned, confused.

"So what?"

Allison rolled her eyes.

"How about Five?"

Still confused, Vanya's frown deepened, her brows knitting together.

"What about Five?"

Allison sighed, sounding a little exasperated that she had to spell it out for her.

"Well he's been acting very strangely ever since he time travelled, and you know…' Allison waved her hand. "You two have been really close lately, sneaking out of the academy at night, giving each other looks during breakfast..."

As realization hit her, Vanya's eyes widened with mortification, her cheeks coloured. If it was physically possible to turn even redder Vanya was sure she would.

Was she really suggesting? That she and Five? Five and she? No! It wasn't at all like that! Five was just teaching her to control her powers, and he's fifty-eight years old for crying out loud, of course, Allison didn't know that, but still! Five never thought of her that way, she was the sister he no doubt felt compelled to protect.

"What? No, w-we were just training- it's nothing like that!" She cried, waving her hands in front of her.

She couldn' even think it. She never saw Five that way... did she?

Allison quirked a brow as if she didn't believe her one bit, but before she could ask, Vanya spoke again.

"Well, how about you and Luther?" She blurted out, not realizing before she said it, that Allison and Luther no doubt thought no one knew their secret.

Now her turn to be mortified, Allison blushed deeply, her eyes widened and mouth opening and closing, looking a lot like a fish out of water.

"What? Luther-he-I-we-"

Vanya gave her a, really? Face, and Allison sighed, but her blush remained.

"Is it that obvious?" She asked softly, shrinking onto herself, appearing more self-conscious than she had ever seen her.

Vanya sighed.

"I always guessed, and besides I heard you murmuring to each other the other day."

"Murmuring?" Allison instantly asked, confused.

Vanya shrugged.

"Yea while you were in the kitchen-" Vanya stopped and quickly raised her hands up defensively when she noticed Allison's angry eyes upon hearing that she had been eavesdropping on them. "But as soon as I realized what you were talking about I turned on my Discman and put on my headphones."

She hadn't overheard anything odd, or obscene, just _sappy_ compliments as Five would no doubt put it. Still, it was a violation of her sister's privacy and she quickly made sure she couldn't hear them.

"Wait? You were in your room?" Asked Allison, anger thankfully draining out of her.

"Yea?" She answered unsure, not wanting Allison to get mad at her.

Allison shook her head and she pointed to the direction where the kitchen was.

"Vanya, the kitchen is halfway across the academy, how could you have possibly heard us?"

' _Oh_ ,' she thought to herself.

Vanya looked down at her hands, feeling a little awkward, she wasn't sure how she would react upon hearing about her new ability.

"Well, after I got my powers I sort of developed super-hearing too."

Allison raised a brow and tilted her head.

"That's some hearing then," she mused, not at all mad.

Vanya looked up from her hands.

"You're not mad?"

For a few seconds, Allison eyed her.

"It depends," Allison crossed her arms, and her eyes narrowed. "Can you control this super hearing of yours?"

Vanya quickly shook her head.

"No, at least I don't think so. I think it's something my powers just physically enhanced, there's nothing I can do about it."

Allison nodded and smiled.

"Then I forgive you." She narrowed her eyes and pointed at her. "But no listening to any more conversations!"

After their conversation, Allison stayed in her room for a little while longer, asking her what else she knew about her powers, to then switching to Luther. Apparently, keeping the truth to herself and Luther it seems that she had no one to turn to for advice, so now that Vanya was privy to their secret she bombarded her with questions, questions she really wasn't suited to answer. She knew next to nothing about relationships, in fact, she was certain any of her siblings would be better suited to give her advice. However, Allison didn't seem to mind, as she didn't seem to actually want advice, just someone she could talk to and Vanya was fine with that.

After Allison went back to her room before Pogo came looking for her, it was already time to get back to their other class of the day.

The first half of her day went unremarkably normal. They had just another class before having lunch, then a small break. Usually, after lunch they would have their individual studies, which for her was Russian and music, however, after what her father told her yesterday, that was no longer the case.

After coming back from lunch she went to her room, freezing by her door after she opened it and looked at the new set of clothes on her bed, and gasped.

It was a simple green uniform with white stripes, nothing out of the ordinary, but it was what that uniform meant that had her heart beating faster, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. The only reason why they hadn't fallen was because she kept telling herself that it was dumb to cry over a stupid uniform. Sure, she had always wanted to wear the said uniform, always envied her siblings whenever they changed into them and went to their training session while she stayed behind. Still, she refused to cry over it.

Taking in a deep, slightly shaky breath to calm herself, she went to her bed and lifted her new uniform from up, looking at it for a few seconds. Although it was missing the Umbrella symbol, it was exactly like that of her siblings. She wasn't angry or surprised by the lack of insignia, her siblings' uniforms didn't have them until they passed all of their tests and received their tattoos. Again, she didn't know if she'd get to be a member of the academy, but if Five was right and she had control over her own future, she was going to do her best to make that happen. After all, this is the chance she's always been waiting for, she wasn't going to mess it up.

Putting on her uniform, and after looking at herself in the mirror with a wide smile, she exited her room.

The hallway was empty, her siblings had already left to go to their own separate classes. She was a little disappointed, she kind of wanted to surprise them with the uniform, but it seems the only one who was around was Pogo who had been waiting for her.

"Ah, good to see that the uniform fits you perfectly, Miss Vanya," he smiled.

Vanya couldn't help but beam until she noticed the box in his hand and she frowned. Noticing her attention, Pogo lifted the box and held it out to her.

"Your father asked me to order this last night, and it just arrived."

Vanya eyed the box and took it, slowly opening it she was a little surprised by what was inside. Reaching inside the box she took out what it contained.

Pogo looked at the object, his lips thinned.

"Your father is working on a less…"

Vanya looked down at the pair of black noise-reducing headphones. Turning them in her hand, she was a little, well, surprised by how conspicuous they were.

"Bulky alternative as we speak," Pogo assured her.

Vanya looked at Pogo and raised her brows.

Sighing, not wanting to say anything before she tried them, Vanya took the headphones between both hands and placed them over her ears. Instantly, the headphones cut down all overwhelming sounds around her by at least a quarter.

She knew they weren't at all fashionable, but she was already a million times calmer now that she wasn't bombarded with so many different sounds.

She gave out a deep relieved sigh and smiled at Pogo.

Seeing as they were late for her new class, Pogo didn't say another word as he led her to the gym, a place she had rarely ever been inside.

It wasn't all that large, just a room with various weights, machines, and everything else an individual might need for working out. Currently, the room was empty but she knew Luther and Diego liked to come here after class, during their free time, even after they had already finished their mandatory training.

Looking around the room, she gulped, finding it a bit daunting when her eyes landed on the bench press, which currently held five plates on either side, no doubt left there from last time Luther was here.

"Well, I believe we should start with a bit of running," Pogo said, snapping her attention away from the bench press.

Quickly nodding, she made her way to the six treadmills. Running she could do, sure she still felt like she might cough up a lung, but she could do it.

After running on the treadmill for twenty minutes, she was already out of breath when they moved on to calisthenic exercises, to weights, to machines, and then finally ending with stretches.

Sweat falling down her face, she was glad to finally move onto something easier like stretching, but she instantly regretted thinking that. Stretches weren't at all easy! The stretches Pogo told her to do worked on her flexibility, which made her limbs feel like they were being torn apart.

After two hours and a half had gone by, and her class was nearly done, Pogo gave her a bit of a break which she spent by lying on her back on the mat, her arms spread out.

At first, she thought Pogo would go much easier on her than Five, but she was clearly wrong. He hadn't given her any time to rest, just a minute to drink some water every once in a while then going back to exercising. She thought that after spending a week training with Five, her body would have gotten used to such stress, but it seems that she was wrong.

Just as there were twenty minutes left of her class, she thought that Pogo wouldn't tell her to do another exercise, when of course the doors banged open and in came her father.

"Number seven," he barked her number, prompting her to quickly jump to her feet and stand to attention.

Standing in front of her, he looked down at a clipboard he had in his hands, jotting a few things, not once looking at her.

"We will do a series of physical tests to see where you stand compared with the others."

Vanya nodded, cold sweat dripping down her back. Pogo hadn't told her anything about a test.

Barking at her to get on the treadmill, Vanya hastily made her way to it, her legs shaking from all the previous exercise.

Once on it, he told her to increase the incline and speed. At first, Vanya thought he would tell her to stop at a simple jog speed, but when he didn't say anything, she felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Only once she was on a full-blown run, did he tell her to keep the speed there.

Ten seconds after starting, Vanya was already panting heavily, struggling to keep up with the speed, the only reason she didn't stop is that she feared she would be sent flying backwards if she did. Not to mention that she was too scared of hitting the emergency stop, knowing her father would reprimand her for it.

After a whole three minutes of running, after Vanya's sight was reduced to pinholes and she knew she would faint, did her father grumbled for her to stop.

She didn't have to be told twice.

Unfortunately for her, that hadn't been the end of the torture. Barely giving her more than a few seconds to catch her breath, they moved onto free weights where he told her to perform different exercises on weights that were far too heavy for her, and so she could barely lift.

With a disapproving scowl, he scratched something on his clipboard after she physically could not bench press the barbell without any weights.

After that, they moved onto calisthenic exercises, consisting of push-ups, pull-ups, crunches, and much more. Just like she did in the weight section, she didn't do so well on any of the exercises, falling flat on her chest after trying to do one push up.

She could feel his disapproving eyes on her.

After that, they moved onto flexibility, which she was also terrible at.

"Pitiful number seven, all your siblings could do a complete split from the moment they were four!" He had barked when she tried to touch her toes, but only reached halfway down her legs.

At the end of all his planned tests, and she physically could not move anymore, he huffed, tucked the clipboard under his arm and looked down at her with disappointment in his eyes. She didn't need him to tell her that she had failed every test.

"Your performance in today's examination was the furthest thing from exemplary."

Vanya winced, keeping her eyes down.

"However, given your lack of training, I will let this poor performance slide. But next week, I expect considerable improvement."

Nodding, Vanya kept her eyes down, glad that he hadn't berated her harshly like she had seen him do to her siblings whenever they failed in training.

Turning on the spot, he made his way to the exit when he barked back at her.

"Come along number seven!"

Eyes wide, she scrambled to follow after him.

Exiting the workout room, they walked further and further away from the training room where she knew her other siblings should be currently gathered.

Frowning, she looked at the back of her father's head.

She thought that she would be training with the others, but it seems she was wrong.

Deciding to disclose what they were going to be doing, her father spoke up.

"Until you can improve your test results, you will not be training with the others in the training hall, instead we will work on improving your control."

Control on what? She wanted to ask but bit back her question. She supposed she was going to find out soon anyway.

Stopping at the main staircase, Vanya looked around confused, wondering what they were doing here until her eyes landed on the wine glasses placed in a neat row atop a large table.

Cocking her head, she looked at the table confused, until her eyes landed on the person sitting on the staircase and her brows raised.

Five was sitting there, legs crossed, body leaning back on his elbow, a glass half-filled with a strange brown liquid she had seen her father drink before, was held in his hand. Unlike her, he was still wearing his uniform, clearly having no plans on joining the others, not that he could given his state. But the weirdest thing was that their father simply walked past him, as if he wasn't there, not at all saying a word about the fact that Five was drinking what she suspected was alcohol, which then led her to realize that their father must also know the truth about five.

Eyes meeting, she cocked her head, trying to ask him what on earth was going on through mere eyesight. Five, however, cocked his own head and lifted his glass as if in greeting.

"Remove your headphones and stand by the table, number seven," their father barked.

Nearly jumping out of her skin, she hastily removed her headphones, the sounds nearly causing her to take several steps back as they hit her. Doing her best not to think about it, she put the headphones on the staircase and made her way to the table, opposite her father, facing away from Five.

Eyes shifting from the table to her father, she looked at him confused, wondering what on earth she was supposed to be doing with the wine glasses. However, when her father took out a tuning fork from his pants pocket and raised it up for her to see, she instantly got a bad feeling.

"When I hit the tuning fork against the table, you will focus on the sound resonance and harness its energy to destroy the glass in the middle, only the one in the middle."

Wide-eyed, she looked at her father, scared. He couldn't honestly want her to use her powers, and indoors no less?

Head whipping back, she looked at Five, who was now sitting up on the staircase. She frowned at him as if asking for help, or any advice. However, when Five gave her an encouraging nod, Vanya took a deep breath and turned her attention back to the table and the wine glasses.

She wasn't sure about this, wasn't sure about using her powers and so soon no less. What if she hurt someone? How was she even supposed to do it? Wasn't he at least going to instruct her? That accident at the courtyard was a fluke, she hadn't known what she was doing, how was she supposed to shatter a wine glass?

However, when their father didn't explain further, instead, he held up the tuning fork to call her to attention, she took a deep shaky breath. Here goes nothing. Maybe as soon as she hears the sound she'll know what to do.

Hands becoming clammy, her breathing quickening, her lips pressed together, she waited for the sound of the tuning fork.

When the sound finally came, she was caught by surprise, prompting her to jump on the spot, but then took a deep breath and focused on the sound.

Being a much cleaner, ringing sound, with little other sounds to distract it, Vanya had little problems focusing on it, and before she knew it she began to gather the resonance and instinctually converted them into energy. Back like she did in the courtyard, she felt a strange almost giddy feeling when energy began to spread around her, growing larger, that is until she remembered how she had sent Five flying and how much she hurt him that the giddy feeling changed to one of utter fear.

Closing her eyes tightly shut, and taking away her focus on the sound to make it stop, the volatile energy spread around her with an invisible force, shattering all the wine glasses in unison.

With the sound gone, the energy leaving her body she opened her eyes and looked at her father who had his lips pressed together, jaw clenched as he gave her a hard look. She just knew she was in trouble now.

Before either of them could talk, Vanya to apologize, and her father to no doubt voice his disappointment, Five spoke up.

"Maybe we're going about this the wrong way," she listened to Five's footsteps as he walked behind her. "I think Vanya should focus on using her powers for less destructive means."

Giving their father a weary look, she expected him to outright shut down Five's suggestion. Instead, he took a deep breath and gestured for him to continue, and Vanya caught herself before she gawked.

Now standing beside her, she watched him as he reached inside his pocket, revealing a small rock which he then placed on the table.

Eyeing the rock, she wondered what Five could possibly want her to do with it.

"Instead of breaking something, concentrate on moving something first." Five gave her a reassuring smile. "It doesn't matter how much or how little you can move the rock, just as long as you move it."

Nodding, she looked at the rock, feeling a little more comfortable with moving a rock than trying to smash a wine glass.

For a brief second, she waited for their father to say something, but instead, he stood to the side, looking at the rock with a critical eye, no doubt intrigued if this exercise will work out better than his.

Taking a deep breath she wanted to ask Five to take a step back, not wanting to hurt him. However, she realized it calmed her a bit more if he was beside her, ready to stop her if something went wrong, so she formed her lips into a tight line.

Just move the rock, nothing more, she repeated in her head.

When their father hit the tuning fork against the table, it didn't catch her by surprise this time. Instinctually converting the resonance of the sound into energy once more, she focused, still somewhat afraid she might mess up and hurt someone. However, this time she used that fear to her advantage by being wary of her powers. Instead of gathering a lot of energy, as she had before, she only grabbed as little as possible. Once she had enough to gently push the rock, she let out a deep breath and let the energy flow from her and onto the rock.

When the invisible energy hit the rock it did move, but not gently. Instead, it went flying like a projectile across the entrance, hitting the door of the academy with a loud thud, creating a small scratch on the wood.

Looking at the door, she was thankful that their father thought it was a smart idea to not stand in front of her while she did this new exercise beforehand.

Sighing in defeat, disappointed in herself she looked at Five, who simply shrugged.

Spatial jumping to the door, where the rock laid, he grabbed it and spatial jumped back to her, placing it on the table once more.

"Again."

Turning to look at him and then back to their father, expecting to see disappointment, she was surprised that they were just looking at her intently.

Turning to look at the rock once more, she focused, trying to learn from her previous mistake to do better this time. A large part of her was disappointed that she hadn't managed to move the rock gently, but another part of her was glad she had moved it. Perhaps she really could learn to control this power.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes! A chapter where Five isn't being hurled into the sky, no having to meet with psychotic members of the commission, not needing to fight a group of commission assassins, not having to stop the impending apocalypse, just him chilling for once.
> 
> Is Vanya's and Allison's relationship perfect and will they be perfect sisters now? Well, not really. The way I see Allison and Vanya's relationship as children is that they both pretty much ignored each other. They're both so very different, that they probably thought they wouldn't get along. But in the end, Allison clearly cared about her sister, and now that they have a reason to come together than talk… well, their sisterly relationship will change.
> 
> As always, thank you for your comment, kudos, and just overall liking this story!


	12. Assassin

Five looked at himself in the mirror as he slipped on his blazer.

It has been exactly a month since he spoke to the Handler and Carmichael. A month of mulling their propositions over. If he took Carmichael's deal, he'll go and kill the Handler, and then he'll have his memories taken from him. If he takes the Handler's deal, he'll kill the board for her, Carmichael included, but then the Handler will double-cross him. So over and over he thought things over in his head, weighing the pros and the cons until he came to the most obvious answer.

After fixing his tie, he looked to the side, down at his desk. Atop it laid a handgun. He had acquired it yesterday from his father's small armoury, not telling him of course, not that he needed to know either way.

Reaching for it, he grabbed it between his fingers, the grip resting comfortably against the palm of his hand. His grasp was sure, one of someone that was far too comfortable holding a gun.

Turning it in his hand he, methodologically, took out the magazine to make sure it was full. Inserting it back inside, he analyzed the gun for any imperfections, making sure everything was in working order. He had checked and re-checked everything yesterday, spending an hour to clean all the components and putting the gun back together again. As a professional, he is perfectly aware that guns fail and if this gun failed today then that could mean death for him. That's why it didn't hurt to check it again.

Not noticing any imperfections he placed the gun inside the inner pocket of his blazer, making sure it wasn't visible.

Looking up at the mirror one last time, he fixed his blazer.

He was almost entirely healed from all his previous injuries, even his last one to the head, which thankfully had only been a superficial cut. He did still feel some pain in his shoulder from the time he got shot, but what mattered was that his arm was in good working order. He could not afford any step backs.

Taking a deep breath, he looked away from the mirror, ready to leave.

Walking to his desk, he grabbed the note he had written for Vanya, telling her that he won't be attending her training session this evening. In it, he assured her that everything was going to be alright, that he was just going to take care of some business with his previous employer. Of course, he knew she would worry, she always does. Still, he doubted she would do anything drastic. She will remain in the academy and continue her training, something they, unfortunately, have yet to see any improvements on.

Switching her training from breaking wine glasses to moving a small rock, he thought she might have a bit more success but he wasn't entirely correct. No matter how many times she tried, how many hours they spent there, she couldn't get the rock to move at a speed less than that of a bullet. It was frustrating for her, but he had expected it, at least she's on the right track. Doing her best to control her powers, not giving up no matter what. Due to her sheer determination, he was sure that, given time, even if something happened to him she'll eventually learn to control her powers.

Five sighed as he folded the note.

Truth is, he doesn't know what will happen. For all he knew, this will be the night he died. He suspected that most people would be overcome with a sense of dread, and fear by that thought, but he found that he was oddly fine with it. He's lived a long life, maybe not a fulfilling one, but a long life nevertheless. There was also the possibility that he might not die, that he might succeed and return like nothing happened. He is a pessimist but nature, but in this case, he was trying to be as optimistic as possible.

Spatial jumping to Vanya's room, finding it empty seeing as she was currently in class, he placed the note on her desk. Straightening his back, he made to leave until something in her mirror caught his eye.

He's been inside her room a bunch of times, all of those times to spatial jump them to the courtyard when they were training in secret. However, not once had he paid attention to her room, much less at her mirror and the small picture on it.

Grabbing the long picture, he cocked his head as he gazed down at it.

It was a picture from a photo booth, one he remembered had been taken at an arcade one of those nights they had sneaked out of the academy, about a year ago for them and forty-six years for him. However, he remembered taking this picture clearly.

In the picture were all seven of them, somehow managing to fit everyone inside the frame.

Klaus was in the middle, the centre of attention as with anything. A wide toothy grin on his lips as he hugged Diego and Ben by their necks, pushing them close to him, who were also smiling at the camera. Allison was in front of Luther on the top right corner of the picture, almost blocking his face entirely as they both smiled at the camera. On the left corner of the picture were him and Vanya. Seeing as there was little space left, they were both practically squeezed together like sardines, their heads pressed together, cheek to cheek.

Looking at his younger self, he was a little surprised by all the innocence he saw in his eyes, and the wide genuine smile on his face, not to mention the slight blush on his cheeks.

For a few long seconds, he just looked at the picture, a touch of a smile on his lips as he was overcome with nostalgia. He wondered if things could ever go back to the way they were? If he could ever be that carefree?

Not if you fail, a morbid voice inside his head answered.

His grip on the picture tightened to the point that his knuckles whitened from the tension. A slight frown on his face as apprehension began to spread inside him.

If he failed then the commission is likely to target his family even if he himself is out of the picture. It is the most logical thing to do. They saw what one gifted individual could do, six of them would be too much of a threat. And with him out of the picture, there is very little stopping them from killing them all, and taking Vanya away so she can fulfil her purpose of destroying the world. Or worse. They could take his siblings and force them to work for the commission, turn them into assassins like himself and that made his blood run cold.

Outside the room, sets of footsteps snapped him out of his train of thoughts.

Shaking his head slightly, he put the picture back on the mirror, not even giving it a second look as he spatial jumped out of the room.

Landing in the alleyway, Five looked at the road ahead.

Taking in a deep breath, he got rid of all emotions, hardening his heart, especially when he felt the slight feeling of hesitation enter him. For what he had to do, he needed to stay focused and not allow any emotions or second thoughts to come between him and his task. Not if he wanted to stop the apocalypse, not if he wanted to protect his family.

* * *

Spatial jumping outside the Aeternalis, he reached inside the inner pocket of his blazer. Hand brushing the gun, his shoulders lost some of their tension. He knew the gun was there, it was more of an old habit of his, a way to calm himself. Of course, he would prefer his rifle, but that was way too conspicuous for this setting.

Straightening his back, he nervously fixed his blazer and tie, a nervous tic.

Taking a deep breath, he composed himself and knocked on the rusty metal door.

The same old man from before opened the door, giving him a hard look before stepping aside, allowing him to enter.

Walking inside, the first thing Five noticed was the soft sound of jazz music, and the sound of people chattering, chattering that stopped as soon as he stepped inside the bar.

Narrowing his eyes, his shoulder's tensing.

The bar was at full capacity, and absolutely every person had their eyes on him, watching him intently. In the background, the music continued to play.

Feeling the hairs at the back of his neck stand on end, he did his best to remain calm as he looked around the bar, counting the exits.

Being a popular commission bar, he knew each and every person present was a highly professional assassin that could kill him before he so much as took out his own gun. That did complicate matters a little, but then again he expected the bar to be full. Carmichael had to make sure he had back up.

Eyes continued to roam around the bar until they landed on the three Swedish brothers from before. They were sitting on the bar stools, their backs against the bar, their eyes trained on him, their guns held over their laps. No doubt Carmichael had charged them specifically to keep an eye on him as if the forty-something assassins currently in the bar weren't enough.

Five scoffed softly.

Coward.

"Good to see you've decided to come," Carmichael said, his voice sounding louder than it was in the quiet bar.

Eyes landing on the same table Carmichael had been the last time he was here, he concentrated on him, not at all paying any attention to the other assassins as he made his way to the table.

"To be honest, I didn't expect you to come," Carmichael admitted, taking a drag of his cigarette. Five watched in the corner of his eye as everyone around the bar went back to their drinks, and conversations, all except the Swedes no doubt.

Taking his seat on the other end of the table, Five rested his elbows on the surface and cocked his head.

"Hadn't you?" He asked sarcastically, knowing full well that Carmichael knew exactly what he would do, well almost.

Carmichael gave out that robotic, dry chuckle of his.

"I taught you well Five, maybe too well."

"You didn't teach me anything," Five said sharply, his predatory smile forming on his lips. "You experimented on me, made me the perfect weapon and then told me how to best execute my targets, that's all."

Before the end, he wanted to make sure the damn fish understood that, refusing to let him think that he somehow owned a part of him, even if it was just his knowledge and skills as an assassin.

Carmichael waved his hand as if waving him away and Five had to use all his will power to stop himself from killing him then and there.

"Regardless, you are the best assassin the commission has ever produced." Carmichael leaned back on his seat. "The commission has felt the loss of your absence these past two months, it's too bad that you won't be working with us any longer."

Five scoffed. Was that supposed to make him feel better? Carmichael made it sound like the commission was saddened to lose an exemplary worker, but in reality, it was he who hated the fact that he was letting his favourite rabid dog go. The commission couldn't be happier to finally get rid of him.

"Less pleasantries A.J," he growled, wanting to get this over with already.

Seeming to agree, A.J reached inside his coat and took out something he hadn't expected, a file.

As A.J placed it on the table, Five frowned, looking from the file to him, confused.

"What's this?" He asked.

Tapping on the file, Carmichael answered.

"This you will need after you dispose of your target." Leaning forward on his seat, Carmichael continued. "This is the mission file of 1993, ordering the death of a flower merchant couple, carried out by you Five."

Five's brows creased, completely confused what any of that mission had to do with this, he barely even remembered it. He's had many missions while with the commission, killed a lot of people. So why was he bringing up this mission?

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Taking a drag of his cigarette, Carmichael inhaled the little bubbles of smoke, coughing ever so slightly.

"Because those flower merchants were the parents of Lila Pitts, the adoptive daughter, and loyal dog of our dear Handler."

Raising one brow, Five was somewhat intrigued by the revelation but still didn't understand why Carmichael was telling him this. Leaning forward he grabbed the file, which Carmichael took his hand off so he could take it.

Opening the file to the first page, he looked down at the familiar red seal of the Handler, giving the go-ahead for the mission to be carried out.

"Interestingly enough, she had tampered with the file and put my seal on it, but I never gave such orders."

Not looking up from the file, he kept reading, glancing over the words.

Frowning, he was confused as to why the mission was carried out. There was no research on the flower merchants, no signs of any threats they might have been to the timeline, or any real reason to kill them. Essentially, there was no file as they should be whenever a kill order is made. The only thing in the folder was one lonely sheet of paper, going into intensive detail, not on the flower merchants, but on their daughter.

Frown deepening, he continued to read the file.

At the time the whole mission had already seemed so strange, mostly because the Handler had been there, which she never had before. Of course, he hadn't asked why he needed to kill the couple, he just got the order and he carried it out, but now he realized that maybe he should have asked. The whole kill order didn't make any sense, but what did it matter now? The couple were dead, and sure they didn't have to die, but so what? Once he kills the Handler he'll kill the girl too.

Looking up at the file, he looked at Carmichael in the eyes.

"I still don't understand why you're bringing this up now." He threw the file on the table, sending it sliding slightly across it, landing in the middle. "If you're trying to bring out the moral conscience inside me, we both know that won't work."

"Not at all," A.J answered, steepling his hands. "I'm showing you this because I want you to spare the girl."

Crossing his arms, Five cocked his head and smiled. He was acting like he didn't care, but inside he was intrigued as to why Carmichael wanted the girl to live.

"And why should I do that? If I recall, sparing someone's life wasn't part of the deal."

Carmichael nodded in agreement.

"It's not, but given the difficulties, she will pose after you kill her mother, you'll thank me later."

Five snorted. Did he honestly think some amateur assassin could pose a threat to him? Does he really think so lowly of him? He can bend the space around him, he can easily defeat some g-

Eyes widening slightly, he put two and two together.

"She has some sort of power, doesn't she?"

He didn't need Carmichael to answer his question, already knowing he was right. It made perfect sense, otherwise what on earth could the Handler and Carmichael want with the daughter of a poor flower merchant couple? With no real skills? Not to mention that her date of birth was on her file, October first, nineteen eighty-nine. At first, he had just glanced over the date, thinking it was a coincidence, but now he realized there is no coincidence. He always suspected there were more of them out there.

Not at all surprised that he had figured it out, Carmichael simply nodded. However, Five wasn't just going to leave it at that, if he was going to potentially face this girl then he needed to know exactly what she could do.

"What are her powers then?"

For a long five seconds, Carmichael regarded him but then decided to answer.

"It's simple but useful." Carmichael took a drag of his cigarette. "When she is around someone who has powers, she is able to copy said power for a set amount of time."

Five quirked a brow. So the girl could spatial jump like him? Of course, by copying his powers. That didn't seem to pose such a danger to him, it takes years to control powers like his, even if she copies it he's sure he can easily beat her. However, if this Lila Pitts were around Vanya, then it would be a lot different. Maybe he should kill her.

Taking the file from the table once more, he tucked it safely inside his blazer, knowing that Carmichael wanted him to keep it.

"And let me guess, she doesn't know anything about me killing her parents, or the Handler's role in it, does she?" Once again not needing Carmichael to answer, Five continued. "That's why you're giving me this file, so I can give it to her and she'll learn the truth, thus stopping her from trying to kill me to avenge her mother and she can go on to keep working for the commission."

Gesturing with his cigarette, A.J told him he was exactly right. Five wasn't surprised, he would do the same thing.

"If I'm to lose my best assassin indefinitely, then I might as well find myself a replacement."

Five's shoulders tensed, his hand resting on his lap balled up into a tight ball. So Carmichael wanted to turn the girl into the perfect assassin like himself, for some reason that didn't sit well with him at all.

Around him, the bar dissolved away as his conscience was pulled back to that sterile room. His arms and legs were strapped to an examination table, a bright light shining on his face. Around him were three surgeons, holding different devices to cut him open.

He heard his old screams of pain as the surgeons ripped his insides apart, not even considering to sedate him. For hours he was in pain, unable to scream as he quickly lost his voice. Unable to fall unconscious.

He tried again and again to forget it all, but no matter how much he tried he couldn't. He remembered all of it with morbid detail, but most of all the memory of Carmichael standing behind the surgeons. He had been overseeing the whole thing, cigarette between his fingers as he watched the surgeons create his perfect weapon. That memory will always remain etched into his very brain.

The experience was so scarring, so terrible that he wouldn't even wish it on his worst enemy. The only reason why he allowed them to experiment on them was for his family, for the world. Every minute that passed on the examination table was torture, but that was what he held onto, what kept him somewhat sane.

Vaguely hearing Carmichael's voice, he was brought back to the bar, slightly dazed until his eyes landed on A.J.

Jaw clenching, nose flaring, he glared at Carmichael.

Carmichael didn't seem to notice as he continued to speak, but Five was no longer listening. All he could think was about killing A.J Carmichael. After all, that's what he had come here to do after all.

The jazz music in the bar seemed to get louder for him, mixed together with the loud pumping of his heart, as it sped up, his breathing quickening as anger rose up inside of him.

After ten long years, he was finally going to get his revenge, and it wasn't going to be slow.

When Carmichael turned inside his bowl a little, not completely looking at him, Five sprang to action.

Leaping up onto his feet, chair skidding back, he jumped over the table. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as the other assassins in the room all turned on their spots and took out their guns, training them on his head.

Five barely even registered them, his eyes on Carmichael who had barely even had the time to fully look at him and recognize the situation. Because if there was one thing Five was, that was an efficient and incredibly fast assassin.

As soon as he heard the loud bangs of every gun going off, Five gripped Carmichael's arm as tightly as possible and spatial jumped them out of the bar. Leaving the table empty and the bullets flying through the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was something eh?
> 
> A bit of explanation for those of you that haven't read the comics. When Five joined the commission he was tortured and experimented on so they could create the perfect assassin. They did this by fusing his DNA with that of the worst serial killers and assassins in history, so yea, not pretty. This is a bit of a backstory Five in the show is missing, which kinda makes sense because the Five in the show is pretty calm and reasonable, Five in the comic is a full on psychopath. However, I've decided to include it in this story, something I've been hinting at a few chapters back.
> 
> Also, this is a short chapter but in reality it's just one monster of a chapter broken into three, so look forward for the next part! And what Five is up to!
> 
> As always, thank you for your comments, kudos, bookmarks, reading, whatever. Seeing that people really like and appreciate this story really does make my day!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked this first chapter, comment and let me know!


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